Tottenham Hotspur have three incredible centre-backs, and we’re here to rundown all the details you need on one of them: Radu Dragusin.
Signed in January 2024, the Romanian defender has had to bide his time at Spurs and take opportunities as and when they come so far, but there is no doubting his talent.
His transfer is a hot topic of discussion, from competition for his signature to a very vocal agent getting involved. But, we’re more concerned with the player himself and his abilities on the pitch.
So, who is Radu Dragusin? Where did he come from, how much is he worth, and how has his Spurs career gone so far?
Radu Dragusin is currently worth £21m and he is paid £50,000 per week.
That transfer value should be taken with a pinch of salt, though. The information comes from Transfermarkt, and it feels like a severely low estimation of what the young defender is worth.
Spurs paid just over £26m for Dragusin earlier this year, and it’s safe to say his value has not dropped since then. In fact, FC Steaua București owner George Becali told Fanatik that the Romanian could be worth upwards of £60m now.
According to the Evening Standard, Dragusin is paid £2.6m per year. That puts him towards the lower end of the Spurs wage bill, though he is thought to earn the same as Micky van de Ven.
Spurs signed Radu Dragusin from Serie A outfit Genoa. He moved over to Italy in 2018 to join the Juventus youth setup.
Dragusin began his career at Romanian side AS Metropolitan, before signing for Juventus and linking up with their Under-17 team.
He developed through the ranks at the Turin club, but only ever made four first-team appearances for the Old Lady.
Dragusin had more luck in his loan spells away from Juventus, turning out for Sampdoria, Salernitana, and Genoa, before joining the latter permanently in the summer of 2023.
He made 62 appearances for Genoa in 18 months, before being snapped up by Spurs.
It was always going to be tough for Dragusin to break into the starting lineup at Spurs, with Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven in front of him in the pecking order.
He has played sporadically so far, whenever Romero and van de Ven need a rest or are injured. Whenever Dragusin has played, he has done well and continues to show how valuable he can be for Spurs.
Dragusin did get a big opportunity for a rare start in the Europa League against Qarabag in the 2024/25 season, but his game lasted just seven minutes before he was sent off for a clumsy challenge after miscontrolling the ball.
Despite his relative lack of gametime so far, Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou has consistently praised Dragusin and insisted he will continue to be a ‘big part’ of his squad (Football.London).
While Dragusin himself appears to be happy at Spurs, his agent has regularly spoken to the press about how his client could and should be playing more, and has even suggested Dragusin will move on to another club.
Dragusin’s agent, Florian Manea, is not one to stay quiet. He was consistently vocal during the January transfer window when the player’s move to Spurs was being arranged, and appeared to be rather upset that a move to Bayern Munich did not go ahead at the time.
Since then, Manea has told CalcioNapoli that he and Dragusin will have to think about their options if he doesn’t start playing, has claimed Dragusin will become one of the best defenders in the world, and has suggested he will have to speak to Postecoglou to discuss his plans for the 22-year-old.
In other words, Manea is very keen to get his client playing regularly, which is fair, but does have a propensity to act somewhat unprofessionally and appears to be pushing Dragusin to sign for another club rather prematurely.
He may only be 22-years-old, but Dragusin is already a regular fixture for his national team, and has amassed 23 caps for Romania since making his debut in March 2022.
Dragusin made his debut in a friendly against Greece over two years ago, returned to the Under-21 setup for six matches through the summer of 2022, and then was folded back into the senior squad at the end of that year.
He hasn’t looked back since. In the last 20 international matches through 2023 and 2024, Dragusin has played the full 90 minutes in all but two games.
Dragusin played a starring role for Romania at Euro 2024, earning praise from pundits throughout the tournament. Danny Murphy described his displays as “outstanding,” David Moyes named the Spurs man as one of the best defenders in the competition (The Times), and Ashley Williams commended the strength of the young centre-half (BBC).
Radu Dragusin is very tall, coming in at 1.91m high, and he weighs 85kg, making him a strong, imposing physical presence at the back.
He was born in Bucharest, Romani on February 3, 2002, making him 22-years-old at the time of writing.
Dragusin has over 500,000 followers on Instagram, but he is not on Twitter/X.
To learn more about the Spurs first-team squad, check out our profiles on Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie. You can also check in on the Tottenham injury list, or see who won the latest Spurs Web monthly awards.
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