Antonio Conte has moved to praise Juventus loanee Dejan Kulusevski after his side’s recent 4-0 victory over Leeds United.

The Swedish international forward moved to north London on loan with an option to buy, joining up with two former Juve backroom staff in Fabio Paratici and Conte.

Kulu had struggled to hold onto a regular first-team role this term under Max Allegri, so it was no surprise that he was allowed to leave, and while he is expected to become a Spurs player permanently once his 18-month loan spell ends with Tottenham, he could well return to Juve in the future.

While he struggled to make a big impact for the Old Lady since joining from Atalanta, he appears to have hit the ground running in attack alongside the likes of Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane, helping them to impressive wins over Manchester City and Leeds in recent weeks

His manager Conte has now moved to praise the midfielder, claiming he could become an ‘important player’.

“Kulusevski is 21 years old, he is a talent and in these four games he has always had opportunities to score,” Conte said after the win over Leeds (via TuttoJuve). “I think he is proving to be a fantastic prospect for the present and for the future. He can become a really important player: he has a body, he has a Excellent technique, he’s not afraid of opponents or tackles. It was a great signing, with Kane and Son, Bergwijn, Lucas Moura, we have a great attack and I’m happy.”

It’s a difficult one… We always knew that Kulu had all that potential, but he never managed to find a decent level of consistency for the Old Lady, and it made it difficult to make an argument to keep him. That doesn’t mean he couldn’t return to us in the future and be exactly what we hoped he would be when he arrived initially, but it could well be that he is more suited to the Premier League.

Do you expect Juve to regret his departure should Tottenham take up their option to buy?

Patrick