When news emerged on Tuesday night of a straight duel between Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich for the signature of Radu Dragusin, innately pessimistic Lilywhite supporters feared the worst.
Genoa had accepted proposals from both teams. It was down to the player.
While Tottenham are re-emerging as an entertaining force, the club simply isn’t on the same standing as the Bavarian behemoths. The apparent guarantee of silverware – Bayer Leverkusen might have something to say about that in May – undoubtedly played a major factor in Harry Kane’s decision to switch allegiances last summer.
In short, you wouldn’t blame Dragusin for picking Bayern over the north Londoners, but the Romanian international opted against such guarantees. He backed the project.
“We can’t believe we turned down Bayern,” Dragusin’s agent commented on Wednesday morning after news of the defender’s decision broke. “Radu had given his word to Spurs and chose to respect this. We’re all still mindblown a bit!”
Here’s the potential reasons behind Dragusin sticking to his word and choosing Tottenham over the Bundesliga giants.
Dragusin was going to sign as a depth option for either Tottenham or Bayern, but minutes are likely to arrive more regularly in north London.
While Thomas Tuchel will be without star defender Kim Min-jae for the next month, he has Matthijs de Ligt to slot in alongside Dayot Upamecano in the South Korean’s absence. Once Kim returned, Dragusin would’ve been the club’s fourth-choice centre-back.
Now, the defender isn’t expected to be a starter at Spurs and Cristian Romero is said to be intent on featuring at Manchester United on Sunday.
Dragusin is set to play second fiddle to Romero in north London, but the Argentine’s penchant for a suspension means the Romanian international will undoubtedly be handed runs in the team as long as the Argentine remains Dragusin’s senior.
The 21-year-old will be keen to prove his worth as more than a reliable understudy.
The loveable Tottenham boss worked his charm – his idea of it, anyway – in the summer transfer window to persuade the likes of James Maddison and Micky van de Ven to sign for the north London club despite interest from elsewhere.
Maddison later said it was Ange’s confidence that convinced him to be a part of the Aussie’s project, while Dejan Kulusevski is one of several Spurs players to have hailed the new boss’ impact. “It’s so fun. Everybody comes in with a smile on their face because they know they’re going to learn new things and we’re going to work with the ball to play football,” the Swede said in December.
He’s a manager who’s already shown during his brief Spurs stay thus far that he’s capable of maximising any player’s talent. Recent arrival Timo Werner is the latest to have been struck by Ange’s conviction: “A lot of things attracted me here – first of all, the talk with the manager.
“He gave me straight away the feeling that I need to join a club, what I want to feel when you talk to a manager and also the tactics and the style, how he wants to play, how he lets the team play.”
Ange’s no-nonsense directness in their conversations must’ve played a role in Dragusin’s decision. Good luck competing with that Aussie accent, Mr Tuchel.
Fabio Paratici may no longer be officially employed by Tottenham, but the Italian director is said to still be advising the club on a ‘consultancy basis’.
His influence has been clear in some of Spurs’ deals since Ange joined the club, and this is another example. Paratici, whose Juventus connections helped Spurs strike deals for Romero, Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur, is well aware of Dragusin from his time in Turin.
The defender broke into the first team under Andrea Pirlo during the 2020/21 season, although he made just four appearances for the Old Lady before being sent out on loan on three occasions. Dragusin joined Genoa permanently in January 2023 and has since excelled.
Dragusin’s familiarity with Paratici could have aided Tottenham in negotiations, and the Romanian defender will re-join a couple of former teammates in Bentancur and Kulusevski in north London.
These links may have swayed the 21-year-old.
Even if you bear all of the above in mind, it’s still pretty crazy to hear of a player turning down Bayern Munich – they are 33-time Bundesliga winners, 20-time DFB Pokal champs and six-time European Cup/Champions League conquerers after all.
But the fact Dragusin has put that to one side suggests he’s not only a player of his word, but is also a player excited to challenge himself in what many consider to be the most competitive league in the world.
The Premier League is certainly the most watched league in the world – that much is indisputable – and the opportunity for Dragusin to test himself against the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal is bound to have played a factor in his decision.
Sure, you could argue Bayer Leverkusen – certainly the current Xabi Alonso breed – and Borussia Dortmund have a similar standing in Germany, but it’s not unfair to say that it’s not really the same challenge.
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