Spurs hit gold on £26m star who’s now worth more than Romero & Eze
If you asked the Tottenham Hotspur faithful who their most important player is, one of the first names to come to mind would be Cristian Romero.
Last season, the Argentine developed into a crucial player under Ange Postecoglou, providing aggression and leadership to the backline.
Throughout the campaign, the World Cup winner started 33 Premier League matches, scoring five goals and keeping seven clean sheets in the process.
However, there’s a current player in the Spurs squad who’s now become worth even more than the irreplaceable centre-back.
What Spurs signed Dejan Kulusevski for
With attacking reinforcements needed, Spurs entered the transfer market in January 2022 with the aim of securing a short-term deal.
This is when the opportunity to sign Dejan Kulusevski arrived, and he joined on an 18-month loan deal, taking him until the end of the 2022/23 campaign.
The Sweden international instantly became a hit, operating on the right of the attack across 18 Premier League matches and boasting an incredible record of five goals and eight assists in the second half of the 2021/22 season.
After then serving as a creative outlet in the following season, producing seven assists in the league, Tottenham made the winger’s loan deal permanent, signing Kulusevski for £25.6m.
Today, that looks like a bargain price, especially considering they were able to reduce his initial buy option, but what exactly is Kulusevski worth in 2024?
Kulusevski’s estimated value in 2024
Last term, Spurs’ number 21 featured heavily under the Australian boss, despite the signing of Brennan Johnson from Nottingham Forest.
The "very special" Kulusevski, as dubbed by football scout Jacek Kulig, became a constant performer, starting 31 matches in the league and only failing to make an appearance in two games all season.
This proves how important the 24-year-old was to Spurs’ attacking structure and output, as he scored eight goals and provided three assists.
Across the entire squad, this made the former Juventus ace the club’s third-highest top scorer, only behind Heung-min Son and Richarlison, but what is Kulusevski worth today?
1. Phil Foden
£169m
2. Bukayo Saka
£127m
3. Alejandro Garnacho
£85m
4. Gabriel Martinelli
£85m
5. Dejan Kulusevski
£68m
As you can see, according to CIES Football Observatory, the left-footed ace is now estimated to be worth an incredible £68m.
This means that if Spurs were to sell the attacker, then they could be in line to make a huge profit on Kulusevski, especially as he only cost £26m.
The April-born star is also the joint-highest-valued Spurs player in the squad, alongside Destiny Udogie, who starred during his debut campaign in England, registering five goal involvements from defence.
Obviously, this means that he’s worth even more than vital cogs in the system such as Romero and Son, who are worth £51m and £25m, respectively.
Furthermore, when compared to other Premier League wingers, Kulusevski is currently the joint-fifth highest-valued winger, only behind the likes of Alejandro Garnacho, Phil Foden, and the two Arsenal widemen, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli. It's also even more than another attacker in Eberechi Eze, one of Spurs' alleged targets this summer.
The Crystal Palace sensation, who scored 11 goals last term, is thought to be valued at around £60m by the Eagles.
Overall, it’s clear that Spurs truly hit the jackpot by signing Kulusevski for less than £30m, and the deal should be used as a model for future transfer activity.
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