Overview
- Dejan Kulusevski has not played competitively since suffering a patella injury in May 2025 and has been absent for more than a year, club and national medical updates confirm.
- Sweden’s team doctor, Jonas Werner, said on Thursday that the problem is cartilage damage in a part of the kneecap that endures large compressive forces when it slides over the femur, which slows and complicates healing.
- Those medical findings are the key reason Kulusevski was left out of Sweden’s World Cup squad, with Werner saying he was not fit enough to be selected.
- Tottenham are overseeing his rehabilitation and Kulusevski is targeting a comeback for the 2026–27 Premier League season under Roberto De Zerbi, but doctors describe the outlook as cautiously hopeful rather than certain.
- Medical experts note that cartilage has little blood supply and heals poorly, so outcomes range from a full return to reduced playing ability, and the club and player must monitor progress before making firm plans.