Tottenham Hotspur winger Dejan Kulusevski has revealed that he considered retiring from professional football after suffering a devastating knee injury that kept him out of action for more than 500 days.

The Sweden international recently returned to competitive action after missing the entire 2025/26 campaign, but has admitted that the severity of the injury left him questioning whether he would ever play again.

According to GOAL, Kulusevski suffered the injury following a collision with Marc Guehi during Tottenham’s final match of the 2024/25 season.

Subsequent medical examinations revealed significant cartilage damage, with part of the cartilage becoming detached and moving to another area of his knee.

Kulusevski Recalls The Incident

Speaking to Tottenham’s official website, the former Juventus star recalled the incident and explained how the injury developed into a serious threat to his career.

“I remember the game, it felt a great warm-up, and then I remember the hit after 10 minutes,” he recalled.

“It was pain but it didn’t hurt that much, it has been much worse. I could feel that the knee was moving a little bit too much. I broke my cartilage, and the cartilage flew out and went to another part of the knee, and they can’t fix cartilage so in the scan they could see that a part of my cartilage was gone.”

The 26-year-old admitted that his fears became so overwhelming that he felt compelled to prepare his mother for the possibility of his football career coming to an abrupt end.

’I Don’t Think I Can Play Anymore’ – Kulusevski

“I told my mother, I sat with her and I told her, ’Listen, I don’t think this is going to work out’,” Kulusevski admitted.

“I had to prepare her, ’I don’t think I can play anymore’.”

After 526 days on the sidelines, Kulusevski finally made his competitive return in Tottenham’s Premier League victory over Coventry City.

He has since featured against Chelsea as he continues working towards regaining full match fitness.

The Swedish winger will now hope to put his injury troubles behind him and gradually establish himself in Tottenham’s first-team plans.

Spurs are preparing to face Crystal Palace this weekend as they look to secure a third consecutive victory.