Radu Dragusin not interested in Tottenham exit, claims the defender’s agent
Radu Dragusin arrived at Tottenham Hotspur from Genoa in January, rejecting a move to Bayern Munich to fulfil his dream of playing in the Premier League. However, he has struggled for game time since arriving at the Hotspur Way.
The Romanian international, who performed well at the 2024 European Championships in Germany, has acted as a deputy to Spurs’ first-choice centre-half pairing Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven. As a result, minutes have hard to come by for the 22-year-old.
This has led to rumours circulating about his future at Tottenham. Radu Dragusin has been linked with a move back to Serie A, with Napoli interested in his signature. However, Florin Manea, the centre-back’s agent, has downplayed the links to Napoli suggesting the Romanian wants to fight for his place at Tottenham.
“I haven’t spoken with anybody, and I don’t think the Spurs want to let him go. He’s focused and wants to play his cards with them. I’ve seen the reports but haven’t heard anything personally. We’re pleased that teams are after him, but I told those that called us that we weren’t interested. No player is happy if he’s not featuring a lot, but he wants to fight for his spot. We’ll see later on how many matches he’ll star in, and then evaluate. It’s premature to think about a transfer,” Manea told in an exclusive interview with Italian outlet Gonfia La Rete.
Dragusin was close to joining Napoli, with Manea confirming having spoken with the Serie A club’s president Aurelio De Laurentiis. Napoli were understood to have made a big offer to sign him from Genoa but the Bucharest-born star wanted to play in the Premier League.
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However, Manea didn’t completely shut the door on the defender leaving the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the January transfer window.
“There’d be this possibility if he didn’t play in any game until the winter. It’d be normal to look around. But I don’t think it will happen. Tottenham believe in him a lot, and we don’t intend to leave. Napoli are surely a great team, they are top of the table in Italy, so they’d be a worthy alternative. He’s only thinking about the Spurs at the moment, and I can deny the rumours, as we haven’t received any offer,” the agent confessed.
It has been a tough spell at Spurs for Dragusin with the centre-back failing to force his way into Ange Postecoglou’s first XI. Despite Romero not being at his best since the start of the season, Big Ange has kept faith in the Argentinean World Cup winner, hoping constant game time will help him build confidence and regain form.
This has left Dragusin having to be satisfied with the role of a squad member. The Romanian has only made just one Premier League start so far this season, which came in the 2-1 away defeat to Newcastle in the absence of the injured Van de Ven. The 22-year-old had performed well despite the defeat, but as soon as Van de Ven became fit, he dropped down to the bench.
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To say the least, it has been extremely frustrating for the defender to warm the benches and watch his teammates perform on the pitch. While Dragusin’s agent has cooled down the rumours linking him to Napoli, it would be understandable if he forces to leave Spurs in January if his situation doesn’t change.
