Radu Dragusin’s agent reveals they had been talking to Tottenham ‘for two months’ and had offers from Bayern Munich, Milan and Napoli, but ‘had already chosen’ Spurs.
The defender is going to wear the Number 6 jersey at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after a deal was struck with Genoa worth €25m plus another €6m in bonuses, and the six-month loan of defender Djed Spence.
There was chaos in the final 24 hours of negotiations when Napoli increased their offer and Bayern Munich came in too with a very lucrative proposal, but after considering it overnight, Dragusin chose Tottenham as the next step in his career.
“Napoli were there from the start in a very concrete manner and I spoke many times to (President Aurelio) De Laurentiis,” agent Florin Manea told Tuttomercatoweb.
“Milan wanted him too, but the lad preferred to go abroad, also due to his bond with the Genoa fans.”
It was known that Tottenham needed a defender quickly to cover their injury crisis, but the representative reveals this has been going on for some time.
“We had been talking to Tottenham for two months. On the final day before he was set to fly out, Bayern Munich turned up, and it’s only natural you have to think about that. However, the lad kept his word to Tottenham.”
Manea had said a few weeks ago that Dragusin had no intention of leaving Genoa mid-season and he insists that really was the plan all along.
“Radu did not want to join another Italian club and he didn’t want to leave Genoa midway through the campaign either. He was thinking more about the Rossoblu fans than his own career.
“While Milan made an approach, I did speak to Geoffrey Moncada, but I told him that Dragusin had already chosen Tottenham.
“We are happy with the choice, Radu is someone who always keeps his word. Always.”
The move to Tottenham is also going to make a lifelong dream come true for the Romanian central defender.
“He wants to play every game. He had dreamed of the Premier League since childhood and when he was 16 I predicted he would go to England eventually. Just call me the Nostradamus of Romania…”
L’agente di Dragusin: “Napoli concreto, ma Radu ha scelto il Tottenham per non tradire il Genoa” https://t.co/ZMX0fd6gsm
— TUTTOmercatoWEB (@TuttoMercatoWeb) January 11, 2024