Tottenham Hotspur star Dejan Kulusevski has been the talk of the Swedish media this week and not just because of his quality as a winger.
Sweden are looking for new stars to emerge.
The days of Freddie Ljungberg and Henrik Larsson have long gone and Zlatan Ibrahimovic has now called time on his career.
It’s time for the next generation of Swedish talents to step up and there is considerable excitement around four attacking players.
Winger Anthony Elanga has enjoyed a promising first season at Nottingham Forest and Viktor Gyokeres just can’t stop scoring for Sporting.
Then there is Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak and Tottenham ace Dejan Kulusevski, two players who have certainly proven themselves in the Premier League.
Finding the right formation and formula will be a challenge for new boss Jon Dahl Tomasson, and he will be hoping to see them all step forward as team leaders.
Kulusevski has done that this week after Tomasson admitted that the Spurs winger produced a rousing pre-match team talk before the 1-0 win over Albania on Monday night.
The Spurs ace is trying to step forward into more of a leadership role with Sweden and he seemingly impressed Newcastle hitman Isak.
Alexander Isak on Dejan Kulusevski
Isak has told Aftonbladet in Sweden that he felt Kulusevski ‘did well’ with his speech – and was a little surprised by it.
The Newcastle star wasn’t necessarily surprised that Kulusevski could deliver a speech, but more that it had so much ‘gusto’ for his first attempt.
“He did well actually, I was a little surprised,” said Isak. “Not that he could deliver that speech, but it was still his first speech and he delivered it with gusto,” he added.
Victor Lindelof is the current Sweden captain but is six years older than Kulusevski.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Kulusevski’s time come in terms of wearing the armband for his country, even if it’s a few years away.
Elanga, Kulusevski, Gyokeres and Isak are all 25 or under, so Sweden could be on the brink of having quite the attacking quartet.
Kulusevski is looking to cement himself as a leader and that may have been somewhat inspired by Sweden missing out on qualification for Euro 2024.
Kulusevski won’t want to experience missing out again and may look to really step up and lead this Sweden team towards the 2026 World Cup.
Ange Postecoglou will love hearing that Kulusevski is trying to take this next step in his career and his development as a player – and as a person – can only help Tottenham moving forward.