Dejan Kulusevski named Swedish footballer of the year

Tottenham Hotspur's Dejan Kulusevski celebrates with teammate Son Heung-min on Feb. 19. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dejan Kulusevski was named the Swedish footballer of the year on Tuesday, becoming the second Spurs footballer in a week to pick up his country’s top football honor after Son Heung-min won the Korean equivalent last week.

Kulusevski was awarded the Guldbollen, Sweden’s top footballing honor, on Monday, winning the prestigious prize for the first time.

Kulusevski joined Tottenham on loan in January this year and quickly became a regular fixture in the team, ably partnering with Son Heung-min and Harry Kane as Spurs rose up the table in the second half of the 2021-22 season. Kulusevski was involved in 13 goals in just 18 games in his first season in London.

The Guldbollen is awarded by newspaper Aftonbladet and the Swedish Football Association and the best male Swedish footballer each year. Zlatan Ibrahimović is the winningest player, having taken the award on 12 separate occasions, most recently in 2020. RB Leipzig’s Emil Forsberg won in 2021.

Kulusevski’s award comes less than a week after teammate Son won Korea’s Player of the Year award for 2022, marking his fourth win in a row and his seventh in total.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]