Radu Dragusin (22, Genoa) chose Tottenham over Bayern Munich. Bayern Munich, who, like Tottenham
was in dire need of strengthening their central defense, entered the competition for Dragusin, but Tottenham chose Dragusin.
Dragusin is left with only the announcement of his transfer to Tottenham.
European transfer market expert ‘Fabrizio Romano’ posted ‘HERE WE GO’ announcing the imminent recruitment
followed by several major media outlets reporting on the imminent recruitment.
Global sports media ‘The Athletic’ reported, “Tottenham and Genoa have reached an agreement on the transfer of Dragusin. 먹튀검증사이트
Genoa accepted the offer to sign Dragusin within a day. Dragusin boarded a plane to London, England on the 10th.” .
According to the media, it appears that the basic transfer fee is 21.5 million pounds (about 36 billion won) and an option clause of 4.3 million pounds (about 7.2 billion won) is included.
It is likely that a five-year contract will be signed with Tottenham until 2029.
A medical test will be conducted at the Tottenham clubhouse.
There has been no announcement yet on Tottenham’s official page, but if all circumstances are considered,
he will play in the Premier League from the second half of the 2023-24 season.
Tottenham aimed to strengthen its rear defense and frontline attackers this winter.
In the beginning, I approached Jean-Clair Todibo. Todibo is showing overwhelming performance and defending tightly at OGC Nice.
He showed solid defense and good feet at the back, establishing himself as a leading player in Nice conceding the fewest goals.
Not only Tottenham but also big European clubs such as Manchester United approached Todibo.
However, OGC Nice’s response was stubborn. Although their scoring power is low this season
they are in second place in the French Ligue 1 thanks to their solid defense.
There must be no breakaway in order to chase first place Paris Saint-Germain in the second half of the season.
He did not receive any love calls from any team, including Tottenham, and prevented Todibo from leaving.
As Todibo’s recruitment was in danger of falling through, Tottenham and manager Postekoglou quickly pivoted.
Although it is difficult to see him as a starting-level resource compared to Mickey van der Ven
he put a lot of effort into increasing central defense depth. This is why I approached Dragusin, who was my second target.
Still, Dragusin is a very promising defensive resource in Italy. He is 191cm tall and physically overpowers opposing attackers.
He is called the ‘second Nemanja Vidic’ as he is similar to Manchester United’s legendary defender Nemanja Vidic.
Of course, the recruitment process was not easy. Tottenham approached Dragusin first,
but Bayern Munich jumped into the recruitment race. It was the same in Naples.
After sending Kim Min-jae to Bayern Munich after the 2022-23 season, the back door became weak, so they tried to secure it by reinforcing it in the winter.
Bayern Munich and Napoli approached Dragusin, but Napoli did not win the recruitment battle.
As a condition for signing Dragusin, Genoa set a transfer fee of 20 million euros (approximately KRW 28.8 billion) and the loan of Alessandro Zanoli and Leo Östigor.
They tried to match Dragusin’s price by attaching a player to the transfer fee, but they were unable to appeal to Genoa.
Napoli failed in the recruitment competition, but Bayern Munich was different.
It is a team competing to win the UEFA Champions League beyond the German Bundesliga.
Bayern Munich brought in Kim Min-jae this summer to reinforce him, but wanted to recruit additional players.
Kim Min-jae came to Korea after the winter break and prepared to participate in the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qatar Asian Cup.
Since he left Bayern Munich for about a month, it was necessary to reinforce defensive resources for the early schedule of the second half of the season.
At the beginning of the winter transfer market, it looked like they were approaching Eric Dier,
but they turned to Dragusin. Florian Plattenberg, a journalist with high credibility in Germany, also said, “
Bayern Munich has inquired with Genoa about recruiting Dragusin. Although negotiations are still in the early stages,
Bayern Munich is confident of overtaking other teams that have attached to Dragusin. Tottenham will sign Dragusin. “
We took the lead in negotiating a transfer fee with Genoa, but we don’t know what the future holds.” It
was a crisis for Tottenham. Although Tottenham has the merit of being a Premier League team, it is far from competing for the title.
Moreover, this season, they are also in the UEFA Champions League. Not participating.
Bayern Munich needed to persuade Genoa before going through the formal process.
They had to make a satisfactory offer to Genoa and Dragusin. The
reason why Tottenham was targeting Dragusin was clear. Tottenham is making changes to its core line this summer.
Coach Postekoglou gave Tottenham an aggressive team color, and with Harry Kane leaving for Bayern Munich,
he formed a front line centered around Son Heung-min and Richarlison. James Maddison was brought in from Leicester City,
which fell to the English Championship (second division). We brought him in and created the perfect combination for the number 10 spot.
A young, promising player was placed in midfield and Mickey van der Ven was brought in at the back.
He played a leading role in the team’s undefeated streak until the 10th round, showing good chemistry with existing defensive resource Christian Romero.
However, the team faltered after the 10th round. It was a tactic and squad that could threaten the top teams in the Premier League if used at 100% strength,
but there was a difference in quality from the replacement players.
Since November, there has been a hole in the team squad. Christian Romero, who played aggressive defense,
was unable to play due to accumulated warnings. Central defensive partner Mickey van der Ven also went into a long recovery after suffering a thigh injury during the match against Chelsea.
Coach Postekoglou endured the last part of the first half of the 2023-24 season with his gums.
As the starting central defense combination of Romero and Van der Ven could not be used,
central defense duties were entrusted to Ben Davis and Emerson Royale.
He showed decent performance, but the risk factor was high because he was not in the main position.
It was okay for a mid- to lower-tier team, but it was uneasy because it was out of competitiveness with the top-tier teams in the Premier League.
Coach Postekoglou emphasized winter recruitment at every press conference. In an interview before Boxing Day,
he said, “Whether I did something good or bad will be known through winter recruitment. I wrote a letter to Santa Claus.
I need to see what kind of gift I will receive. There are important games starting next January and there are no injuries. “
There are a lot of players who will be absent. If players are brought in at the end of January,
it will be difficult to make an impact,” he said, urging the team to quickly recruit players in the winter transfer market.
For central defense resources, the radar network was turned to players active in various leagues,
such as Jean-Clair Todibo (OGC Nice), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), and Morato (Benfica).
Todibo, who is from Barcelona and plays for the French national team, had an expected transfer fee of at least 50 million euros (about 71.6 billion won).
However, Tottenham set Todibo as their top recruit and sent a love call to OGC Nice.