Tottenham have scouted RC Lens’ rising star Abdukodir Khusanovc this season

Tottenham Hotspur defender Radu Dragusin has been subject to links with a move away from north London of late, as the central defender has struggled to clock minutes under his belt since he moved to the club from Genoa in January.

Having beat Bayern Munich to his signature, expectations were extremely high from the Spurs faithful when Dragusin arrived at the club. However, things haven’t been smooth sailing for the Romanian international, who has had to be content with a deputy role to first-choice centre-back pairing Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven.

Amidst Dragusin’s exit links, Tottenham have seemingly started hunting for defensive reinforcements ahead of the winter transfer window. According to an exclusive report from TBR Football, the Spurs are among a host of clubs that have scouted RC Lens defender Abdukodir Khusanov this season.

Abdukodir Khusanov moved to RC Lens from Belarusian club Energetik-BGU Minsk in July 2023, and he hasn’t looked back since. The youngster has established himself as one of the most promising defensive prospects in Ligue 1 over just 12-15 months. He has become a regular fixture at the back for RC Lens, turning out 25 times thus far.

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The Uzbekistan international’s performances in Ligue 1 haven’t gone unnoticed, with several clubs from the continent monitoring his progress. Chelsea, Newcastle United, Crystal Palace, Brentford, Brighton and West Ham United have all watched Khusanov, while Napoli, Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig, Atalanta and Marseille too have been keeping tabs.

The aforementioned report adds the 20-year-old could be available for around £25m in the winter transfer window, which should be a reasonable deal for Spurs to complete mid-season despite spending millions in the summer.

Should Dragusin decide to quit Spurs after just one year in search of regular minutes, Daniel Levy and his team would be wise to turn to Khusanov to potentially replace the Romanian in Big Ange’s squad.

At 20, Khusanov is still raw in some aspects of the game which when polished could see him become a top defender. If the north Londoners were to land the Uzbek rising star’s signature, he’d be competing against Romero and Van de Ven for a spot in the starting XI.

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Big Ange has overseen the development of many young talents at White Hart Lane and the same could happen with the Lens star if he decides to join Spurs.