Juventus told they made big ‘mistake’ over ‘exemplary’ Tottenham signing Andrea Pirlo loved
Radu Dragusin in training with Tottenham (pic from THFC)
Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has been told that he a ‘a mistake’ allowing Tottenham’s latest signing Radu Dragusin leave the club for Serie A rivals Genoa.
The Romania international completed a €25million switch to Spurs this week as the north London club beat out the likes of Bayern Munich and Napoli for his signature.
Dragusin became the club’s second signing of the January window after Timo Werner on Friday and could make his debut against Manchester United on Sunday when Tottenham visit Old Trafford.
However, former Juventus midfielder Giancarlo Marocchi believes that the decision of Allegri to back fellow defensive star Alex Sandro over Dragusin is one the Italian probably regrets.
Dragusin‘s stock has been massively on the rise this season after his performances for Genoa, having initially started his career with Juve.
The 21-year-old joined the club’s Under-17s squad in 2018, moving up through the youth ranks before having loan spells at Sampdoria, and Salernitana.
He then joined Genoa in a temporary switch in July 2022 and impressed so much they agreed to pay €9.7m for his services last summer.
In terms of Juventus, they decided to back the players they already had at the club rather than bring Dragusin back into the mix after his impressive year out on loan.
And that’s a decision they will now regret, according to Marocchi, who believes Allegri was wrong not to back the youngster.
“Allegri is good at reintroducing young players,” he said.
“[Fabio] Miretti had come in, then he was on the bench and now he’s been deployed again.
“A flaw? Dragusin had come through, but he was preferred to Alex Sandro who then only had one year left on his contract. That’s a mistake but he’s making up for it in a big way.”
Dragusin tipped to shine in England
Italian football expert Mina Rzouki is certainly a Dragusin fan and believes the Romanian can be a success in England.
He told Sky Sports: “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.
“Pirlo wanted him to train with the first-team squad to improve his technique and what you see at Genoa is that he is now better on the ball.
Richarlison face is..😂😂😂#richarlison #radudragusin #tottenham #footyfactsfrenzy pic.twitter.com/t1mNbarL6W
— FootyFactsFrenzy (@Footyfactsfrenz) January 13, 2024
“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.
“One thing that everyone who has ever worked with Dragusin has told me is that the first thing they notice is his size, but secondly and most importantly it is his character that has stood out.
“Everyone talks about his exemplary professionalism, how hard he works, how much he is willing to learn and improve.
“It’s so rare to find these days when you’re looking for players. He understands what it takes to be the best and he is working every day to improve the skills he has.”
