Tottenham defender Radu Dragusin is still a long way away from attaining full fitness after rupturing his ACL back in January
Tottenham Hotspur had a horrible injury record last season as they were left short in defence multiple times.
The North London club’s 2024/25 campaign was ravaged by an unprecedented injury situation, which former boss Ange Postecoglou often cited as a factor that hampered their progress in the Premier League. This summer, under new head coach Thomas Frank, Daniel Levy must look to add more depth to the squad, given the gruelling upcoming campaign that will see Spurs return to the Champions League after three years.
The Danish tactician’s focus will now be on the forthcoming pre-season tour as players return from their vacations. But, unfortunately, there are a few players who are unlikely to participate in the pre-season.
Lucas Bergvall, James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski all missed the Europe League final against Manchester United due to respective injury problems. Maddison suffered a serious knee injury, while Kulusevski had to go under the knife to treat his knee before the end of last season.
Radu Dragusin not expected back until August
Radu Dragusin suffered an ACL rupture during a Europa League game against Elfsborg on January 30. The centre-back shared an injury update with the fans in May as he continued to put the hard yards to return ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.
Now, according to Sun journalist Tom Barclay, the Romanian international isn’t due back in action until August at this juncture, meaning that he will likely miss the beginning of the new season. He also shed light on the number of centre-back options the Spurs boss currently has at his disposal.
“He [Frank] obviously has a lot of centre-backs already, Takai I think becomes the ninth centre-back in the squad alongside Romero, Van de Ven, Danso, Dragusin, who I believe is on track to come back in August time from his ACL. You have Ben Davies, Takai now, Luka Vuskovic, Ashley Phillips and Alfie Dorrington as well,” Tom Barclay said in his YouTube channel.
Tottenham need depth in every area of the pitch
Spurs need quality depth in almost every area of the pitch, but given their defensive unit was all over the place due to an injury crisis last season, the club chiefs have done well to add Kota Takai to the ranks.
Youngsters such as Ashley Phillips, Luka Vuskovic and Alfie Dorrington have returned to the club from their loan spells, and it will be interesting to see who Frank decides to keep and let go out for another temporary move. The Dane also needs to quickly sort out the future of Cristian Romero.
As for Dragusin, the centre-back will have to be patient and continue his work towards attaining full fitness. There is still a long way to go before we can see him in action.