Since early January, Spurs have been talks with Serie A side Genoa over a potential deal for centre-back Radu Dragusin. No agreement has been reached as yet, but the Premier League side are pushing hard to address one of Ange Postecoglou's priorities.
Indeed, the centre-back is at the top of the agenda for the Lilywhites in January, with the likes of Lloyd Kelly (Bournemouth), Tosin Adarabioyo (Fulham) and Jean-Clair Todibo (Nice) also coming under consideration.
Dragusin, 21, has played every single minute for newly-promoted Genoa in Serie A this season, having joined permanently from Juventus last summer at the end of a loan spell. Now, it seems Spurs may have taken a significant step towards bringing him to North London.
Spurs step up Dragusin pursuit
According to Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport, via Sport Witness, Spurs have now made a £23m offer for Dragusin. While the Lilywhites are "taking things seriously", they're currently operating through "lateral channels", with agents relaying the proposal to gauge Genoa's response. If it's favourable, then Spurs may formalise their bid.
While Dragusin retains interest from fellow Serie A side Napoli, it's felt that Spurs can overwhelm the reigning Scudetto holder with their financial power.
What is Dragusin good at?
It remains to be seen how much success Spurs have with their backdoor offer, but it would certainly look like a bargain if they're able to sign Dragusin for even close to that figure. Dubbed a "revelation" by journalist Zach Lowy, he's established himself as one of the most exciting young centre-backs in Europe this season.
Crowned the 2023 Romanian Footballer of the Year, he ranked third in Serie A as of the start of January for aerial duels won (57), and he'd prevailed in exactly two-thirds of his aerial duels, the fourth-best record among defenders with at least ten games played. What's more, he'd only been dribbled past once all season, suggesting attackers should shy away from taking him on (FBref).
While his on-ball numbers this season don't particularly stand-out in a league-wide context, it's worth noting that he's playing for a team just up from Serie B who currently sit in mid-table. Playing for a Champions League hopeful like Spurs, those figures should significantly increase. Indeed, when Genoa were one of the best sides in the second tier in 2022/23, he finished runner-up in the rankings for total touches, which shows us that he was heavily involved in his team's build-up play.
While all of this is going on, Eric Dier is seemingly nearing a move to reigning Bundesliga champion Bayern Munich after reaching an agreement on personal terms. Spurs say they haven't received an official proposal from Bayern, but there's a strong chance that Dier leaves ahead of the expiry of his contract in the summer. The Englishman has only played 198 minutes of football for Postecoglou this season, but his effective "replacement" in Dragusin would be expected to come in and present an immediate challenge for starting opportunities.
