Tottenham Hotspur have been put clean out of countenance over the past several weeks, stunned by a three-match skid in the Premier League that is an unfortunate by-product of injuries and suspensions, ravaging the squad.
Injuries and suspensions have hectored the Lilywhites away from pole position in the English top flight, with manager Ange Postecoglou now forced to contend with a threadbare set of players ahead of the winter period.
Nonetheless, it's important to remain optimistic in the face of adversity and the confidence and cohesion that Postecoglou had instilled over the early weeks of the campaign highlights the potential – Spurs won eight and drew two of the opening Premier League matches of the campaign.
Only last year, Spurs languished well below the expected standard and finished eighth in the league after a second-half-of-season deterioration, resulting in Antonio Conte's dismissal and Harry Kane's sale to Bayern Munich in the summer.
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Postecoglou's appointment has worked wonders, with the Australian manager restoring stars such as Heung-min Son, who has now been handed the captain's armband and is leading by clinical example on the pitch.
Heung-min Son's season in numbers
The South Korean menace, aged 31, has been a stalwart for Spurs since signing from Bayer Leverkusen for £22m in 2015, having completed 386 appearances, scored 153 goals and provided 81 assists across all competitions.
In Kane's wake, Postecoglou opted not to sign a first-class centre-forward in the summer and instead spread his transfer work across the pitch, shifting Son, who is principally a left winger, into the focal role.
And what a start to life as the talisman, with the £190k-per-week phenom plundering eight goals and an assist from ten matches up front in the Premier League, backing up past praise from Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, who named him a "world-class player."
He's not the only cog in the machine though, with Dejan Kulusevski one of the other most instrumental members of the squad, having now established himself as one of the most financially important too.
How much Tottenham paid for Dejan Kulusevski
In January 2022, a Conte-led Tottenham raided Juventus and procured midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur and winger Kulusevski, with the esteemed Italian seeking to shape the side for years to come.
Joining on an 18-month loan, Kulusevski spent the latter half of the 2022/23 – his first foray into English football – in fine fettle for his London side, posting five goals and eight assists across 18 fixtures in the Premier League, leading pundit Chris Sutton to dub him a "special player".
Fast track to the summer of 2023 and Spurs chairman Daniel Levy agreed on a £25m fee with the Old Lady to secure Kulusevski's signature for good, despite the 6 foot 1 whiz enduring a testing term.
He didn't really perform that well and only scored two goals over 37 appearances across all competitions as Tottenham toiled, leading pundit Glenn Murray to remark on how the winger had been "blowing hot and cold" for a while.
But since the summer, the £110k-per-week gem has been a mainstay in Postecoglou's system and has actually started every one of Spurs' Premier League fixtures so far, scoring three times.
As per Sofascore, he has complemented his direct return with 1.9 shots, 2.1 key passes, 1.5 tackles and 4.1 ball recoveries per game, also completing 81% of his passes.
Player
Club
Bukayo Saka
Arsenal
Ousmane Dembele
Paris Saint-Germain
Hirving Lozano
PSV
Sadio Mane
Al-Nassr
*Sourced via Football Transfers
Not just an offensive outlet, Kulusevski's tenacity and application across the pitch have seemingly won his 58-year-old gaffer over, with this evidenced by his ranking among the top 19% of positional peers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for tackles and the top 20% for interceptions per 90, as per FBref.
One of the most talented players in London, the 35-cap Sweden star has remained ever-present for his manager throughout this turbulent period of the campaign, very much cementing his stature as one of the most valuable components.
Dejan Kuluevski's current market value
Kulusevski is still only 23-years-old and could continue to make incremental progress to propel his craft to new heights, establishing him as one of the division's very best.
While his prolific threat is perhaps lacking somewhat, the nuts and bolts are very much there and his market value in comparison to his Tottenham teammates underscores the potential that, perhaps excitingly, has yet to be channelled.
#
Player
Market Value
1
Dejan Kulusevski
£46m
2
Brennan Johnson
£41m
3
James Maddison
£39m
4
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
£36m
5
Rodrigo Bentancur
£36m
6
Heung-min Son
£34m
*Sourced via Football Transfers
As Football Transfers' valuation model above portrays, Kulusevski is actually Postecoglou's most valuable player right now, and while an updated tally would probably raise the price of thriving stars such as James Maddison, it remains an impressive fact that the Swedish marauder is considered so lucrative an asset.
On surface value, three goals and zero assists from 13 matches in the Premier League this season is nothing to write home about, but Kulusevski's value is so much more, providing energy and exuberance in abundance and proving to be a constant thorn as he darts up and down the right channel.
Only in April this year, Football Transfers had provided the one-time Juventus player with a £62m price tag, and while this value has depreciated over recent months, his performances on the pitch have underscored his immense quality and as Spurs rise under Postecoglou, so too will their Swedish maverick.
Age is on his side and this will certainly factor into his higher valuation than Son, but while the forward is proving to be a real star as the spearhead, his exploits would not be possible without Kulusevski's constancy down to the right.
Spurs have taken a hit in recent weeks, but it's hardly detrimental in the long run, not with the likes of Kulusevski's only set to improve and develop within a squad that could finally reach illustrious heights after many interminable years of yearning.
