08 January 2024 , 12:45
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Ange Postecoglou is ready to add Genoa's Radu Dragusin to his squad as Tottenham aim to strengthen their defence in the January transfer window.
Spurs have struggled at the back since losing Micky van de Ven to injury during their 4-1 defeat against Chelsea. The nine Premier League games since have brought just one clean sheet, though they did keep Burnley at bay in their FA Cup third round tie.
Van de Ven returned to injury to take his spot on the bench against Burnley, but wasn't risked as Pedro Porro scored the only goal of the game against Vincent Kompany's side. Full-backs Emerson Royal and Ben Davies started at the heart of the defence, with Cristian Romero still injured and Eric Dier reportedly close to leaving for Bayern Munich.
Reinforcements are needed, and Dragusin could provide the answer. The Romania international is also attracting interest from Genoa's Serie A rivals, but the latest reports suggest Spurs hold the upper hand.
According to The Mail, Spurs have made a verbal offer of around £21million for Dragusin. That is still a little below Genoa's asking price of £26m for a player who joined the club for just under £5m in January 2023.
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The 21-year-old, who came through the ranks at Juventus, made a loan switch to Genoa ahead of the 2022-23 season before the move was made permanent midway through the campaign. He had previously spent time on loan at their neighbours Sampdoria and at Salernitana, and was a regular last term as Genoa earned promotion back to Serie A.
He has also been an ever-present in the top tier this season, scoring against Verona and Inter Milan. The likes of Inter, AC Milan and Napoli have also been linked with the youngster, who is under contract at his current club until 2027.
Would Radu Dragusin be a good fit for Spurs? Have your say in the comments section
Radu Dragusin has impressed for Genoa in Serie A (Cristiano Mazzi/SPP/REX/Shutterstock)Senior centre-back Romero has missed Spurs' last two league games with hamstring trouble. However, back in late December, Postecoglou insisted the Argentine's absence wouldn't change the club's preparations for the transfer window.
"It’s not so great with Romero, he had a scan the other day, he’s got a hamstring strain," the manager said. "So we’re looking at probably four weeks, five weeks for him.
“No, it doesn’t change anything. Disappointing to lose him, for sure. We obviously missed him with the suspension and now, we’d just got him back and kind of steadied things up and obviously we have him missing again for quite a chunk of time.
“But it doesn’t change really… you can’t accelerate time, mate. It’s still December. January 1 stays January 1 irrespective of our situation. The plans and the planning is still in the same shape.”