Tottenham transfer: Dragusin ‘mistake’ exposed as ‘flawed’ manager’s error let £25m signing slip away

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·14 January 2024

Tottenham transfer: Dragusin ‘mistake’ exposed as ‘flawed’ manager’s error let £25m signing slip away

According to a former Juventus player, the Serie A giants should not have let new Tottenham Hotspur signing Radu Dragusin leave the club.

Spurs edged out AC Milan, Bayern Munich and Napoli in the race to sign Dragusin, who has joined the Premier League side from Genoa for a fee in the region of £25m. To sweeten the deal, Djed Spence has been sent to the Serie A outfit on loan.

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The 21-year-old progressed through the ranks at Juventus but he made just four appearances for the Turin giants at senior level.

After impressing while on loan with Genoa in 2022/23, Dragusin joined them permanently ahead of their promotion to Serie A.

Tottenham’s priority during this month’s transfer window was always to sign a new centre-back as first-choice pair Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero have had spells on the sidelines due to injury in recent months.

After initially being linked with OGC Nice standout Jean-Clair Todibo, the arrival of Dragusin is a major boost for Ange Postecoglou as he will add some much-needed competition at centre-back.

Dragusin is likely to be involved for Spurs on Sunday afternoon as they face Manchester United at Old Trafford. Ahead of this game, former Juventus player Giancarlo Marocchi claimed manager Massimiliano Allegri made a “mistake” when he stuck with Alex Sandro instead of making Dragusin one of his preferred centre-backs.

“Allegri is good at reintroducing young players,” Marocchi said (via Sport Witness).

“[Fabio] Miretti had come in, then he was on the bench and now he’s been deployed again.

“A flaw? Dragusin had come through, but [Allegri] preferred Alex Sandro who then only had one year left on his contract. That’s a mistake but he’s making up for it in a big way.”

A report from The Athletic has revealed a few reasons why Dragusin opted to choose Spurs over the Bundesliga champions.

‘On the one hand, Dragusin had his agreement with Tottenham, the knowledge of where he would fit into Postecoglou’s plans, his long-standing dream of playing in the Premier League and a genuine chance to continue to play first-team football. ‘And in the end, Dragusin decided to stick with his initial commitment to join Spurs. ‘He remembered from his time at Juventus what it was like to be on the fringes at a superclub, having to drop back down a level to work his way back up. And as attractive as Bayern was, he felt more wanted by Tottenham.’