Report explains why Spurs may have ‘slowed down’ Radu Dragusin pursuit

According to reports out of Italy, Spurs target Radu Dragusin favours a move to the North London club over a switch to Napoli, but Tottenham have ‘slowed down’ their pursuit of the player as his current club continues to push for a higher transfer fee.

It has been known for a while now that Tottenham’s key priority in the January transfer window would be to sign a centre-half, and for close to a month now, Radu Dragusin has been highlighted as a top target (Telegraph).

Over the weeks, speculation linking Spurs to the Romanian defender has intensified, and according to Fabrizio Romano, we should expect the transfer to be completed ‘very soon’, with the player himself even reportedly having accepted personal terms.

Dragusin’s agent claimed a fee of around €25-30m (£21.5-25.9m) would be enough to secure the deal (TV Play via Marco Giordano). However, the latest from La Repubblica (via Napoli Magazine) stated Genoa are pushing for closer to €35m (£30m).

Spurs face battle with Napoli for Dragusin

There are various reports coming out of Italy covering the deal now, with Corriere del Mezzogiorno (via Sport Witness) confirming Serie A champions Napoli are monitoring the situation with hopes of hijacking any potential move for Dragusin.

However, it is believed Dragusin would prefer to move to the Premier League with Spurs, and the player would even be willing to wait until the summer if it meant he got that dream move.

Despite this, Il Mattino state Napoli are refusing to give up the chase, and they are well aware that Genoa would rather sell to them than Spurs, given the offer of a player-plus-cash deal involving Leo Østigård.

Finally, according to Sport Mediaset, Tottenham have ‘slowed down’ their advances for Dragusin, as they have been put off by Genoa’s push for more money.

Spurs Web Opinion

There are so many reports on this situation that it’s hard to know what to believe. I think that, despite the noise, we can expect to see this deal wrapped up by the weekend. The player wants to move, and we need a defender, so I believe our people will get it over the line.