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Roberto De Zerbi is eager to strengthen his attacking options at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and he is set to get that boost even if Spurs do not bring in any new signing.

Tottenham Hotspur have received timely encouragement on transfer deadline day, with Sweden international Dejan Kulusevski returning to full first-team training 477 days after suffering a complex knee injury.

The 26-year-old forward has not played a competitive match since May 2025, when a challenge in a Premier League defeat against Crystal Palace caused patella cartilage damage in his right knee.

Although the first diagnosis indicated only a minor knock, later scans showed serious cartilage damage that required surgery.

His recovery was badly affected by setbacks and, because cartilage does not have a direct blood supply, the joint did not heal naturally once workloads increased, which led to Kulusevski needing a second operation to clean out the affected area.

Overall, the Swede’s 15-month injury ordeal has forced him to miss well over 60 matches for both club and country.

From the sidelines, Kulusevski has watched a turbulent period in Spurs’ recent history play out. Former manager Ange Postecoglou left, Thomas Frank came and went, and then Igor Tudor also departed.

New head coach Roberto De Zerbi has now taken charge, but Kulusevski has been absent for so long that he missed Tottenham’s 2025 Europa League triumph, as well as all of last season’s domestic difficulties, including a 17th-place finish in the Premier League. He was also unavailable for Sweden’s 2026 World Cup campaign.

For De Zerbi, who has endured a frustrating start to the 2026/27 season after back-to-back defeats to Brentford and Newcastle, Kulusevski’s return gives Tottenham a welcome lift in attack.

The versatile attacker can play as a direct right winger or in a more central creative role, giving De Zerbi options his team have lacked for quite some time.

Considering Kulusevski has been away from first-team football for 477 days, expectations will need to remain realistic. Returning to the intensity of Premier League football after two operations and such a long spell out will demand plenty of patience from Spurs fans, and it will naturally take time before he regains full sharpness and rhythm in matches.

Even so, getting back on the training pitch with his team-mates marks a major step forward.

“After 477 days I came back to full team training,” Kulusevski wrote.

“Everything is impossible until is [sic] not. Want to see a miracle. Be one. See u soon.”