Italian football expert Gianluca Di Marzio has praised Tottenham's loan signing of Dejan Kulusevski on transfer deadline day.
The 21-year-old winger signed for Spurs on an 18-month loan deal from Juventus at the end of the January transfer window and has made a promising start to life at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Kulusevski bagged his first goal for Tottenham on Saturday as Spurs picked up an exceptional 3-2 win against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium - getting off the mark in his fourth appearance for his new club.
Tottenham have paid Juventus €10million (£8.3m) in total for Kulusevski so far - €3m (£2.5m) for the remainder of this season and €7m (£5.8m) for the 2022/23 campaign.
Now, Di Marzio, who watched the Sweden international play for Juventus in recent times, has explained the two reasons why this marks good business for Tottenham and how Antonio Conte is set to play a huge part in his development.
"I think it's a very good deal for Tottenham for two reasons," Di Marzio said to Wettfreunde. "Firstly because Fabio Paratici was the sporting director for Dejan Kulusevski in Atalanta also.
"He was the first one to think Dejan could play in a top club. He was the first sporting director who decided to buy him, and to see him in a top club.
"Secondly because Antonio Conte is the right man who can find Dejan the right role, the right tactical role in the field. Because the problem Kulusevski had until now was exactly that - where is the best position for him to play.
"Is it a winger, is it an offensive midfielder, sometimes for Juventus he played as a striker, a ‘false striker’.
"So in Italy we don't really know which is his best role. And Antonio Conte is perfect to see him in training and decide what the perfect situation is in the field for his future."
He added: "Even in a character improvement area, Antonio Conte is perfect for him, because sometimes when you saw him in Juventus, you felt that there was a lack of, maybe not personality, but sometimes of continuity in his play.
"Sometimes he played very good matches and sometimes not so much. He probably needs a coach that not only can find the right place for him tactically, but to stimulate him to train and play in an intensive way every match."
It could be that Fabio Paratici has played a masterstroke by signing Kulusevski on loan and seeing how his game develops over the next season-and-a-half in a Tottenham shirt.
