“Dragusin has decided to keep his initial promise he made while negotiating with Tottenham. He will be on a flight to London, the U.K. for a basic transfer fee of 21.5 million pounds and an option clause of 4.3 million pounds,” he said
Radu Dragusin (22, Genoa) chose Tottenham instead of Bayern Munich. Bayern Munich, which needed to strengthen its central defense like Tottenham, entered the Dragusin competition, and the Dragusin choice was Tottenham.
Dragousin is only left to announce his transfer to Tottenham. European transfer market expert Fabrizio Romano posted HERE WE GO, which announced the imminent recruitment, and several big media outlets reported the imminent recruitment.
“Tottenham and Genoah reached an agreement on the transfer of Dragusin,” the global sports media outlet “The Athlete” reported. “Genoah accepted the offer to recruit Dragusin just one day later. Dragusin will be on a flight to London on the 10th.”
Media reports suggest that the basic transfer fee of 21.5 million pounds (about 36 billion won) and the option clause of 4.3 million pounds (about 7.2 billion won) are included. Chances are high that the team will sign a five-year contract with Tottenham by 2029. The team will hold a medical test at the Tottenham Club House. There has been no announcement on Tottenham’s official page yet, but given all the circumstances, he will play in the Premier League from the second half of the 2023-24 season.
Tottenham aimed to reinforce its rearguard and frontline strikers this winter. In the beginning, it approached Jean-Clerc Todibo. Todibo has been showing overwhelming performance in the OGC Nice and has been playing hard defense. It has become the leading player in the team’s smallest number of runs as it has shown solid defense and solid feet. Big European clubs, including Manchester United, as well as Tottenham, approached Todibo.
However, OGC Nice’s response was rather stubborn. Although his scoring ability is poor this season, he is ranking second in the French Ligue 1 due to his solid defense. If he is to pursue Paris Saint-Germain, the No. 1 player in the second half of the year, he must make no decision to leave. He has completely blocked his departure from Todibo, refusing to accept any calls from his team including Tottenham Hotspur.
Tottenham and Postecoglou turned quickly when Todibo’s recruitment was on the verge of collapse. Although it is hard to say that it is a key resource compared to Mickey Van der Ben, he devoted his heart to increasing the depth of the central defense. This is why he approached Dragusin, who was the second target.
Still, Dragusin is a fairly promising defensive resource in Italy. He is 191 centimeters tall and physically overwhelms the rival striker. He is nicknamed the “second Nemanja Vidic” as he is similar to the legendary defender Nemanja Vidic of Manchester United.
Of course, the race to recruit players was not easy. Tottenham approached Dragusin first, but Bayern Munich jumped into the race. The same was true for Napoli. After the 2022-23 season, Kim Min-jae was sent to Bayern Munich, and since the back door became sloppy, they tried to lock him tightly to reinforce winter conditions.
Bayern Munich and Napoli approached Dragusin, but Napoli did not win the bid. As a condition to recruit Dragusin, Genoah granted loan to Alessandro Janoli and Leo ᄋᅀᅳᅵstigor for 20 million euros. He tried to match Dragusin’s price by adding a player to the transfer fee, but it failed to appeal to Genoah.
Napoli failed to recruit players, but Bayern Munich was different. It is a team that is competing to win the UEFA Champions League beyond the German Bundesliga. Bayern Munich brought in Kim Min-jae this summer to strengthen his team, but wanted to recruit him more. Kim came to Korea after the winter break and prepared to participate in the 2023 Asian Cup in Qatar. Since he left Bayern Munich for about a month, he needed to beef up defense resources for the early second half of the season.
In the beginning of the winter transfer window, he seemed to be approaching Eric Dier, but he changed his mind to Dragusin. Florian Plattenberg, a German reporter with high public confidence, also said, “Bayern Munich asked Genoa to recruit Dragusin. It is still in the early stages of negotiations, but Bayern Munich is confident it will surpass other teams that Dragusin has attached to. Tottenham negotiated transfer fees with Genoa in the lead bid to recruit Dragusin, but the future will be uncertain.”
Tottenham faced a crisis. Although Tottenham has the merit of being a Premier League team, it is far from qualified to win the title. Moreover, it will not participate in the UEFA Champions League this season. Before Bayern Munich took formal steps, it needed to persuade Genoa. It had to make a satisfactory offer to Genoa and Dragusin.
The reason why Tottenham is aiming for Dragusin was obvious. Tottenham has made a change in its core line this summer. Postecoglou put forward an aggressive team color for Tottenham, but as Harry Kane left for Bayern Munich, they mainly focused on Son Heung-min and Hisharlisson. He brought in James Maddison from Leicester City, which was away to the English Championship (second division), and matched the perfect match for No. 10.
He deployed a young and promising player to the midfield and brought in Mickey Van the Ben in the rear. He had good teamwork with existing defense resource Christian Romero and led the team’s unbeaten streak through the 10th round. However, the team was on shaky ground after the 10th round. If the team utilized 100 percent of its full capacity, it was a tactic and squad that threatened the top teams in the Premier League, but there was a difference in quality from a replacement.
The team squad has suffered a setback since November. Christian Romero, who was playing aggressive defense, failed to play due to accumulation of warnings. Central defensive partner Mickey Van der Ben also suffered a thigh injury during the match against Chelsea, making a long recovery.
Postecoglou endured with his gums at the end of the first half of the 2023-24 season. When he could not operate Romero and Van der Ben, his main central defense associations, he assigned Ben Davies and Emerson Royal as central defense duties. He displayed good performance, but was not the main position, which was a big risk factor. He was okay with mid- to low-ranking teams, but he was nervous about losing competitiveness with high-ranking teams in the Premier League.
Postecoglou emphasized winter recruitment at every press conference. In an interview before joining Boxing Day, he said, “Winter recruitment will tell whether I did the good thing or the bad thing. I wrote a letter to Santa Claus. I need to see what kind of gift he will receive. There are important games from January next year, and many players will be injured and absent. If he joins the team at the end of January, he will not be able to show any influence,” urging early recruitment of players in the winter transfer market.
Central defense resources include players active in various leagues such as Jean-Clerc Todibo (OGC Nice), Mark Gegh (Crystal Palace), and Morato (Benfica). Born in Barcelona, Todibo, who plays for the French national team, has been paid at least 50 million euros in estimated transfer fee. However, Tottenham sent a love call to OGC Nice, naming Todibo as its top recruitment priority.
As soon as the winter transfer window opened, he wanted to recruit him, so he quickly set up a negotiation table. However, he could not easily afford to give up Todibo, which is in charge of the minimum number of runs in the OGC Nice, to another team. If he dragged his feet longer, he could have missed the next target. This is why Tottenham offered Dragousin.
Dragusin has had a pretty good career. Born in 2002, Dragusin was a young and promising player and was competitive in the Italian Serie A league. Born in Juventus Youth, he stood out from a young age and even made the first team stage. However, he was not a top-tier player at Juventus F.C., so he was on loan at Sampdoria and Salernitana.
He played for Genoah through a complete transfer as his contact point coincided with that of Genoah, who was preparing to be promoted. He was loaned in the beginning, but has since become a perfect defender of Genoah. Having confirmed his full recruitment early this year, he played in all matches as a key defender of Genoah in the 2022-23 season, and became a pillar of his promotion to the main league. He has two goals in 22 games this season as well. His role model is Virgil van Dijk, who leaped from Liverpool to world-class central defense.
Another step was needed as they were preparing to participate in the UEFA Euro tournament in Germany this summer. The Premier League is more difficult than Serie A, but considering the current status of Tottenham’s injury and squad, they may be guaranteed a satisfactory second-half playing time.
Rumors have it that Genoah has accepted offers from both Bayern Munich and Tottenham. For Genoah, it was not a bad idea to choose any team. He paid 5.5 million euros (about 7.8 billion won) to completely recruit Dragusin in January, and the deal was more than five times larger than the original transfer fee of 21.5 million pounds (about 36 billion won) plus an option clause of 4.3 million pounds (about 7.2 billion won). Italian soccer media outlets Gianluca di Margio and Gazeta del Sport reported that Genoah approved the terms of the transfer fee for both teams. “Now it is up to the player to decide.”
According to Fabrizio Romano, a European transfer market expert, Dragusin chose Tottenham instead of Bayern Munich. He did not want to abandon his aggressive love calls and verbal negotiations from the beginning. It was not an easy decision as he did not sign the contract, but this is why he chose to move to Tottenham.
Romano also said that Dragusin agreed to keep his initial promise he made while negotiating with Tottenham. Plattenberg, who was advocating for Bayern Munich’s hijacking, also said that Tottenham successfully recruited Dragusin for a total of 31 million euros. Now, Bayern Munich is making Dier its top target.
Of course, there were mixed reactions. Despite his tall physique and good defense, he has not been able to provide significant passing points in speed and build-up underfoot. “Dragusin may take some time to adjust to Postecoglou’s style of soccer,” said Opta, a soccer statistics firm. However, Postecoglou deploys players based on their strong points in different positions. Representative examples are Destiny Udogi, Pedro Pororo, and Vicario goalkeepers. “They are all displaying their strong points and developing into top-class Premier League players.”
Dragousin’s recent performance has been positive. He has recorded five clearings, four shooting blocks, three interceptions, and 100 percent of aerial contention victories for 90 minutes. During the course of his attack development, he recorded 39 ball touches, demonstrating a 92 percent pass success rate. Soccer statistics site “Sopa Score” gave Dragousin a 7.4 rating, the highest rating among field players.
Dragusin agent Florin Manaea is said to be quite shocked by Dragusin’s decision. According to the British media Daily Mail, Manaea said, “I can’t believe we rejected Munich. Dragusin had already promised Tottenham and decided to respect it. I am still shocked.”
“The decision was made at 8 a.m. We decided to go to Tottenham, and it was suspended because an offer came from Munich. We were on our way to the airport, but we had to think carefully and evaluate it. Munich is one of the biggest clubs in the world. So I still can’t believe I rejected Munich,” he said. “But this was the decision of Dragusin and his family. I explained to Munich that it was difficult to change the decision at the last minute with this fact. Maybe we can reach Munich in the future. Refusing Munich is a great shock, but ultimately this is what Dragusin and his family wanted. Dragusin will happily go to Tottenham.”
With the confirmation of the recruitment of Dragusin, Tottenham accelerated the release of Eric Dier. Dier had one year left on his contract with Tottenham, but he was completely excluded from the managerial plan of Postecoglou. It is highly likely that he will move to Bayern Munich, where Tottenham and Dragusin competed in the recruitment match. Tottenham seems to have succeeded in recruiting the first and second players in the winter transfer market, with the recruitment of Dragusin now completed.
The first recruitment was Werner. “We brought Werner on loan. Werner, a former member of the German national team, signed a half-season loan agreement until the end of the 2023-24 season. There is a condition that the option to fully recruit him can be invoked this summer,” Tottenham announced on its official channel on Wednesday.
According to European football expert “Fabrizio Romano,” Tottenham is responsible for all six-month weekly wages. Usually, the original team and the rental team pay in installments, but Tottenham decided to take responsibility for Werner’s share this time.
Wearing a Tottenham uniform, Werner said, “Coach Postecoglou told me the reason and tactics of moving to Tottenham. I once played against Tottenham when I was playing for Chelsea and Leipzig. I am very happy to be a member of the Tottenham club. Everything suits me at Tottenham. When I moved to Chelsea, I said I wanted to win the UEFA Champions League. And I held the UEFA Champions League trophy in my arms. I came to Tottenham to win the title as well. I know how much my strengths threatened my opponent in the Premier League. I will show this to Tottenham as well.”
Tottenham had a major change in its team in the summer of 2023. Coach Enzi Postecoglou has prepared for Harry Kane’s absence from the pre-season. The reason is the transfer. Harry Kane, who was in charge of Tottenham’s front line for a while and competed for the Premier League’s top scorer, decided to leave the team. He wanted to win the title at Tottenham, but admitted that his chances were slim, and moved to Bayern Munich, a team that competes for the UEFA Champions League.
Postecoglou placed Hisharlisson and others at No. 9 to check the team’s tactics. He tried to narrow the void left by Harry Kane. He played the striker role for Hisharlisson from the opening game against Brentford, but his performance was not what he wanted.
Since then, he has placed Son in the ninth position. Son has displayed his presence as a captain by posting points on offense even at the position of frontline striker. Midway through the season, he gave Hisharlisson the ninth position again, and gave Son as a winger, but his sharpness remained intact.
However, he had to participate in the Asian Cup after 20 rounds of Premier League schedule. Son Heung-min was unavailable after the last match in 2023. The Korean team is aiming to win the title at the Asian Cup, which will take place around Qatar from January 12, and if it advances to the final, it will be until February 10. Tottenham cannot keep the captaincy for about a month.
In the early days of the transfer window, Tottenham wanted to recruit Ivan Toney (Brentford). When Kane left for Bayern Munich last summer, Ivan Toney was the target of Tottenham. He was ranked third in scoring goals with 20 goals in the Premier League last season.
With good physical conditions, he excelled in competition to secure flying ball, and displayed robust decision-making ability. Although it is a question mark as he has limited playing time due to illegal betting issues, he is now on the radar of high ranking teams in the Premier League. If he gets on track, he is highly competitive. His London rivals Chelsea and Arsenal also jumped into the race to recruit him. Tottenham also needed him as its top priority was strengthening the forward and backward position. However, Brentford manager Thomas Trank declared that he would not hand over Tony to another team, which went up in smoke.
Since then, Werner has been in touch with each other. Werner received quite a lot of team love calls because he had experience in the Premier League. In the first half of the 2023-24 season, teams that needed supplementation with the No. 9 striker and frontline decisions were drooling at Werner. Aston Villa and Manchester United put Werner in their shopping cart, but Tottenham made the final decision.
“HERE WE GO” Fabrizio Romano, who announced it before the official announcement during the transfer window, also said, “He will join Tottenham on loan within the next 48 hours. He was also excluded from the Leipzig squad. As it is known, negotiations are in the final stages and a decision is pending. Tottenham plans to take responsibility for 100 percent of Werner’s short-term rental income until June.”
“I will join Tottenham on a short six-month loan deal. I am currently in the final stages of negotiations with Leipzig,” German Sky Sports reporter Florian Flettenberg reported. “Werner is ready to leave Leipzig and join Tottenham.”
Romano said, “I will head to London, the U.K., to complete my loan move to Tottenham. The two teams agreed on the terms of Werner’s loan move last Saturday. Tottenham has agreed to provide 100% weekly assistance and the option to fully recruit is 17 million euros. Confidently, he will become a Tottenham player after the medical test,” and posted his signature “HERE WE GO.” Since then, he has gained credibility as a number of local media including the U.K.’s “BBC” and “Sky Sports” have announced the imminent transfer of Werner to Tottenham.
Werner, however, played only eight matches for Leipzig this season. Of the matches, only two were selected, and only 204 minutes were needed including all the matches. If he wants to make the final roster of Euro 2024 to be held in Germany this summer, he desperately needs to play consistently.
If he goes to Tottenham on loan, he will be able to secure playing time. Assuming that the Korean national team advances to the finals, he has to fill the gap of strikers for about a month. Werner is an all-weather striker who can play in addition to No. 9. He can take the forward line alternately with Hisharlisson, or he can coexist in the absence of Son.
When he was at Chelsea, he also had advice to learn from Son. British media reported, “Son Heung-min was not impressed at all during his debut season in the Premier League. He only scored four goals in the 2015-16 season, but his scoring ability more than doubled from the next season. When Son first came, there was a fear that it would become an expensive cue like Roberto Soldado. It was difficult, but he finally recovered. Son was not impressed at all during his debut season in the Premier League. He only scored four goals in the 2015-16 season, but his scoring ability more than doubled from the next season.”
Werner had strong points. Since his time with Leipzig, he attempted to penetrate the opponent team’s last line by banking on accurate timing. He had strong points such as excellent line-breaking and ability to connect with teammates. However, he had never seen such a thing while playing for Chelsea for nearly 60 Premier League games. He failed to fully utilize his strengths with teammates and only scored goals, which he lacked. He occasionally tried to break down the defense by using line-breaking, but failed to score even at critical opportunities.
Postecoglou’s leadership and performance in the first half of the season also touched Werner’s heart. “Tottenham has become a team that plays for a specific goal under Postecoglou’s leadership,” British media Sports Lens said. Postecoglou wanted to recruit Werner himself. Postecoglou judged that he was playing for his team, and Tottenham’s scouts also recommended Werner as the right player for the team. Postecoglou was in charge of Werner’s transfer to Tottenham. “We received offers from Manchester United, West Ham United, and Crystal Palace, but we have decided to move to Tottenham on loan.”
When asked about Werner’s transfer to Leipzig coach Marco Rose, he replied, “It is true that he wants to leave the team on loan. He wants to play at the UEFA Euro as a member of the national team. We hope Werner will do his best in other teams and wish him good luck.”
Football London said, “Tottenham quickly approached Werner as the winter transfer window opened. He was linked with Manchester United and others, but has now completed the loan transfer for Werner. Tottenham will be able to fill the void left by Son Heung-min who will participate in the AFC Asian Cup in January. If Werner plays smoothly in the rest of the season, he may fully recruit him at a fairly low price. Of course, he played for Chelsea from 2020 to 22 and failed to adjust to the Premier League. He helped Chelsea win the UEFA Champions League, but he lacked the point of attack in the Premier League. During his two seasons with Chelsea, he only scored 10 Premier League goals.” 마카오토토도메인