Tottenham Hotspur have not start the new campaign in flying colors and things are about to get intense for their winger Dejan Kulusevski off the pitch.
Kulusevski is facing a driving ban after repeatedly being caught speeding, but has told a court he needs his car to get home from away matches.
The 26-year-old Swedish international has been prosecuted by the Metropolitan Police after he was caught speeding in his Audi through the Limehouse Link tunnel last September.
Kulusevski pleaded guilty to the speeding offence last week, after a camera clocked him at 43mph in a 30mph limit at 3.39pm on September 28 last year.
The Met said, in written submissions to the court, that Kulusevski would now have at least 12 penalty points on his licence, putting him at risk of a six-month driving ban.
Kulusevski, who missed the whole of last season and the 2026 World Cup through injury, wrote an email to the court to explain his mitigating circumstances.
He said he would be unable to attend court in person because he is in training “after a one year injury as a professional footballer”.
Injured Dejan Kulusevski looks on during the Premier League 2026/27 match between Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
“I would ask that when you are considering my case you take the following mitigating circumstances into consideration as an appeal”, he wrote.
“My young family need me to drive them to various appointments and in case there are necessities to go to a hospital with them I have to be on hand.
“I also drive to work and back where the hours can be antisocial eg. I return from an away game very late at night.”
Kulusevski added that his “speeding offences were mostly just over the varying speed limits in London areas”.
He added: “However, I understand I was over the speed limit.”
Kulusevski entered a guilty plea to his latest speeding offence in the Single Justice Procedure, and his case has been referred to a sentencing hearing on September 21 at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court.
Motorists who reach 12 penalty points on their licence can appeal to a magistrate to be spared a six-month ban. However, they must prove a disqualification would cause “exceptional hardship” if imposed.
