Tottenham increase bid for top defensive target after intriguing new contender opens talks
Radu Dragusin celebrating a goal for Genoa
Tottenham Hotspur have submitted a better official offer for Genoa defender Radu Dragusin than has recently been reported, several top sources have revealed.
As Fabrizio Romano recently confirmed, Tottenham’s first bid for Dragusin stood at €23m. Genoa have dropped their demands for the defender, but Spurs still fell short of the new €30m asking price.
Overnight, news has filtered through about a new attempt by Tottenham to win the race for the Romania international – and they have good reason to hurry.
According to Sky Sport Italia guru Gianluca Di Marzio, Tottenham have sent a formal offer to Genoa, now worth an initial €25m (£21.5m) with €5m (£4.3m) in add-ons.
As long as Genoa are happy enough with the structure of the deal, the new bid by Tottenham would effectively satisfy their requests for Dragusin.
However, Di Marzio has also confirmed that Bayern Munich have begun talking to Dragusin’s representatives, without making their own formal offer to Genoa yet.
Florian Plettenberg of Sky Sports Deutschland has also reported on Bayern’s interest, stating there is no bid by the Bundesliga champions yet, nor an agreement with his camp.
But they are still believed to have a chance in this transfer battle, which Tottenham as things stand are winning.
Plettenberg has deemed an agreement between Tottenham and Genoa, starting from that €25m fee, to be close.
Romano has also looked into the links with Bayern and has concluded that today (Tuesday) could be a crucial day to determine the outcome for Dragusin, with Spurs still confident and Bayern not making any bid.
TEAMtalk recently revealed that Tottenham expected widespread competition for the former Juventus prospect, so have not been concerned by rival suitors such as Napoli.
Now, Bayern are the club they are trying to fend off, which is interesting in the context that Thomas Tuchel’s side have also been trying to sign a certain Eric Dier.
Dier is into the final six months of his contract with Tottenham, who are happy to let him leave.
Whether or not Dragusin is viewed as an alternative to Dier or Bayern want both remains to be seen.
Any dreams they do have of beating Tottenham to Dragusin may be in vain if Ange Postecoglou’s side can accelerate as expected towards a positive conclusion.
Tottenham hope Dragusin can be defensive solution
They would be bringing Dragusin to the Premier League for the first time in his career after the experience he has built up in Italy.
Juventus had control of the centre-back’s services between 2018 and 2023, sending him on loan to Sampdoria, Salernitana and Genoa.
With Genoa, Dragusin won promotion from Serie B last season. This term, he has played all 90 minutes against every Serie A opponent in the first half of the season.
He could be about to embark on a new challenge. Tottenham have been in need of better depth in defence due to injuries to Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero.
Van de Ven is back among the squad now, but his usual centre-back partner remains out. Tottenham, therefore, want to bolster their backline, especially after Postecoglou failed to find a place for Dier there and also sanctioned a loan exit for Ashley Phillips.
Bayern have their own reasons to strengthen in defence, such as Kim Min-jae going to the Asian Cup with South Korea, but Tottenham still have the edge over them for Dragusin.
