Leeds United's monster first January signing could be genius signing of forgotten £27m Tottenham gem
Tottenham look set to part ways with another player this month - Leeds should take note.
Tottenham defender Radu Drăgușin is believed to be considering his future in north London after signing for the Premier League outfit two years ago.
Drăgușin has played just five minutes of football under Thomas Frank this season since returning from an ACL injury and is believed to be seeking a new challenge so that he can boost his chances of potentially playing for Romania at the 2026 World Cup.
Romania finished third in Group H behind leaders Austria and second placed Bosnia & Herzegovina in qualifying but will advance to the play-offs later this year regardless due to their strong showing in the Nations League. They play Turkey over two legs in the semi-final before then facing the winner of Kosova and Slovakia, with the winning team playing in a group with hosts USA, Australia and Paraguay at the tournament.
Dragusin tipped to leave Tottenham this month
Caught Offside understands several clubs in Italy are interested in signing Drăgușin.
Drăgușin played in Italy between 2020 and 2024, making a name for himself in Juventus’s academy before loan moves to Sampdoria and Salernitana in the top-flight and Genoa in Serie B where he won promotion in 2022/23.
The towering centre-back, who is also capable of covering as a right-back, made 40 appearances and scored four goals in Genoa’s promotion-winning campaign before making his move permanent. He played all 19 games in the first half of the following season and earned plaudits for his performances before Tottenham snapped him up for £26.7m beating off competition from Newcastle at the time.
Drăgușin played nine times in the second half of the campaign as Ange Postecoglou’s side finished fifth and continued to feature at times during the following campaign, racking up 28 appearances in the first half of the season before sustaining an ACL injury.
Fiorentina, AC Milan, Napoli, Inter, and Juventus have all shown interest in Drăgușin this month, with Tottenham already being well stocked in the form of Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero, Kevin Danso and Ben Davies along with Luka Vušković once he returns from his loan at Hamburg. It remains to be seen if Frank has a plan for Drăgușin but as it stands speculation suggests a move could be on the cards.
Why Leeds United could be a good move for Drăgușin
Leeds United are battling to survive in the Premier League and have shown enough positives to suggest they’re in with a good chance after picking up 22 points from 21 matches. However, their defensive record is the fifth worst in the league and still an area where they could look to improve in January.
The Whites under Daniel Farke typically line up with three central defenders and two wing-backs - they could benefit from bringing in a player of Drăgușin’s calibre if they can get him up to speed quickly in terms of fitness.
Perhaps a loan move with an option to buy could make sense for Leeds, with the player seeming not to have a future at Tottenham. Leeds are already amongst the best when it comes to scoring from set plays this season and Drăgușin at 6ft 3 could add to that threat.
It’s worth noting that while Drăgușin hasn’t yet established himself in England, he arrived with big potential. Italian football expert Mina Rzouki told Sky Sports in 2024: "Let's start with the good stuff. He is an interesting character as straightaway when he was at Juventus and was handed his debut by Andrea Pirlo, what stood out was his size.
"He's so tall and has got great physique. It's really difficult to win a duel against him. He owns everything on an aerial level. He's very strong and aggressive in his type of defending. He's not a ball-playing defender and is not someone who is going to progress the ball on his own at the back, but he delivers a great long pass and it's also very difficult to dribble past him. He's not super fast but fast enough. He's going to be difficult to beat at set-pieces and he loves to score a goal.