Tottenham boss Thomas Frank expects Radu Dragusin to be available for selection after the November international break
Tottenham Hotspur could soon welcome back a long-term absentee, as Radu Dragusin edges closer to making his long-awaited return from injury.
Thomas Frank has not had luck with injuries since taking the reins at Spurs in June, as several key players remain in the infirmary. One of those is Radu Dragusin, who has not played since he suffered an ACL rupture on his right knee against Elfsborg in the Europa League in January. The serious knee injury ruled him out for the rest of the 2024/25 season and ended up taking away the momentum which he was finally building at White Hart Lane.
The Romanian international has been gradually building up his fitness. He returned to the grass last month is now taking a full part in first-team training, though Thomas Frank cautioned earlier in the season that Spurs would be patient with the centre-back’s recovery.
Thomas Frank gives positive update on Radu Dragusin’s recovery from ACL injury
Tottenham rejected an approach from Romania manager Mircea Lucescu to call up Dragusin into the national squad to train and lift team spirit ahead of their crucial World Cup qualifier against Austria during the October international break. The Spurs defender was seemingly ready to team up with his Romanian teammates earlier this month but accepted the club’s decision to veto Romania’s call up.
Thomas Frank was addressing the media ahead of Tottenham’s Carabao Cup fourth round clash with Newcastle United. Asked to give an update on Dragusin’s injury, the Dane said (h/t The Standard):
“It’s going well. He’s fully integrated into training now. Because an ACL is such a… it’s not tricky but it’s such a big injury, because you’re out for nine months so you need to build strength in the knee and so on.
“Then because we don’t train that much, the big area stuff is not that much so we need to give him some of the bigger area stuff. But he is definitely getting closer to being involved.”
Dragusin has not played for more than nine months, so Frank cannot take any risks with him. Questioned whether the 23-year-old could be involved for Tottenham after the next international break, Frank answered:
“That could be likely.
“I think we plan to play him in a friendly there, as I understand it, so that’s a big part of it.”
Recent reports suggest Romania have called up Dragusin for crucial November’s World Cup qualifiers. They have named him in the preliminary squad for fixtures against Bosnia-Herzegovina and San Marino. On Dragusin being selected for the November’s World Cup qualifiers, the Tottenham gaffer added:
“Of course, I haven’t spoken to him about it but that doesn’t make sense to me.”
Dragusin’s return from injury would be big boost for Tottenham
Tottenham have already been hamstrung with injuries to several players, forcing Frank to juggle his resources very carefully in a bid to keep them sharp and avoid any new setbacks despite a taxing fixture schedule that has seen his team play every three/four days in recent weeks. Recent injuries to Cristian Romero, Destiny Udogie and Ben Davies have depleted the north London side’s options in defence heading into games against Newcastle United, Chelsea, FC Copenhagen and Manchester United.
Romero and Micky van de Ven boast of patchy injury records over the last two campaigns, and Kevin Danso is presently the only other experienced centre-back available at Frank’s disposal. So, Dragusin potentially returning to action post-November international break would be a massive boost for Tottenham.
Before the Romanian star returns to competitive action, Frank and Co. are planning to play the defender in a friendly. They are following a similar plan with Randal Kolo Muani earlier this month, using a behind-closed-doors friendly against Watford at the training ground to help build his fitness as he recovered from a dead leg.