Dejan Kulusevski has confirmed that Antonio Conte’s Tottenham future will have no bearing on his own, despite sticking up for the under-fire Italian.
It is widely anticipated that Conte will depart the Premier League club this week, after holding crisis talks with Daniel Levy at the weekend. That came after the Spurs boss delivered an astonishing attack on his players and the club as a whole.
He accused his squad of being littered with “selfish players” and claimed that mediocrity had become part of the Spurs story under Levy. Sky Sports are now reporting that a decision could be made as soon as Wednesday night, with the expectation being that he will be relieved of his duties.
Conte was instrumental in bringing Kulusevski from his former club Juventus during his first season in charge. The Swede along with Rodrigo Bentancur swapped Turin for north London and helped transform a campaign which saw them clinch a top-four berth on the final day.
But while Bentancur was signed permanently, Kulusevski was signed on an 18-month loan deal with an option - that under certain conditions could become an obligation- to sign him long term.
However, Conte’s precarious position in the dugout had led to some questions as to whether a new manager would necessarily want to trigger the clause, or whether the player himself would still want to say.
But the 22-year-old, speaking while on international duty, has confirmed that is not the case. “Conte situation will not affect the club's buy option for me — absolutely not. I want to stay at Spurs, of course."
Asked if he felt personally offended by his manager’s quotes, Kulusevski backed Conte and claimed it had done nothing for the respect he feels towards him. “No, because I know what I bring to the team every day.
"I know I prepare myself to do as good as I can and that’s why I can always look at myself in the mirror,” Kulusevski told Sky Sports. “Sometimes I know I don’t play good enough and I can take responsibility for that.
“But what he said was for him, they were his words and I respect him a lot. He helped me a lot during my career and he’s still a very important man at the club and in my world.”
Spurs midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg had asked Conte to elaborate on his post-match press conference and urged him to be “a little more precise” if his players were to take the message on board.
But Kulusevski suggested he had no issue with the explosive interview, adding: "He was very disappointed, as we were as players, and we have to accept that. We lost in the cups and went out of the Champions League, so I know we have to sometimes be sad and angry, and that's how he took it. Somebody else would take it another way. We have to respect his words."
