Tottenham Hotspur’s Dejan Kulusevski first made a name for himself at Parma during the 2019/20 season.
The forward joined the Italian club on loan from Atalanta and managed 10 goals and nine assists from 36 Serie A matches.
He played under Roberto D’Aversa’s orders at Parma, who, during an interview with TuttoMercatoWeb, has now hailed the Tottenham player
The Sweden international impressed D’Aversa for the first time when he was representing Atalanta Primavera. The manager followed the 22-year-old and it convinced him to take him on loan for Parma.
When asked to explain what ‘struck’ him about Kulusevski, he said: “I saw him during the semi-final of the Primavera championship in Parma, played at the Tardini, and I took the opportunity to follow him live.
“There were already many clubs behind Dejan, for example Cagliari which had already made an important offer to buy him.
“In that case the club was also good, we took advantage of the good relations that existed between the clubs and the one with the then sporting director of Atalanta, [Giovanni] Sartori, with whom we often spoke for some young people.
“With me at Parma, he could have played more than in other teams, this made the difference. And the moment he played he amazed everyone. In building the team, we had placed him in midfield. But since I needed a left-footed offensive player who played with his foot reversed, after two training sessions I bet on him.
“Right from the start he caught the eye for the strength, determination and desire he had to get there. He never wanted to lose, even in training. I often and willingly teased him because I wanted him not to lose balance.
“I must say that he did a great season, above expectations. I don’t remember a player who comes out of Primavera and is immediately so decisive in Serie A. Perhaps Bastoni together with him.”
Kulusevski’s displays for Parma convinced Juventus to buy him in 2020. He spent over 18 months with the Turin club before joining Tottenham on loan in January 2022. Spurs have an obligation to make the attacker’s stay permanent if certain set conditions are satisfied.
The Swede has already expressed his desire to continue at Tottenham. D’Aversa believes his former player can succeed in any league and he made this claim when asked why he didn’t succeed at Juve.
“He made his choices independently and rightly so. You must always follow your instinct and your heart, they must be done personally. With Juventus he started well and also played a lot,” D’Aversa explained.
“Clearly at Parma, there wasn’t an alternative of his level while in Juve there are many champions. In case you make a mistake in a game maybe you don’t have the possibility to play the next one because there are players of your same level.
“At Parma, with me he also had the possibility of being able to grow and make mistakes because in that context he shifted the balance. However, we are talking about a top player who can play in any team and in any league.”
Kulusevski has two goals and seven assists from 27 matches this season with Tottenham.
