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Extended Clip - Who Is Radu Dragusin? Genoa’s ‘Poor Man’s Van Dijk’ Set To Join Tottenham (Ep. 388)
1.5k Plays2 years ago
With a January transfer move away from Genoa and the Serie A almost a certainty, Nima Tavallaey and Carlo Garganese do a profile deep-dive on Romanian international Radu Dragusin who's linked with a move to AC Milan and Tottenham Hotspurs in the Premier League.
This is an extended clip from this weeks free Monday episode of The Italian Football Podcast which is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google podcasts.
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Transcript
Introduction and Transfer News
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast. I want us to do a profile on Radu Dragusin who is expected to join Tottenham this week. Personal terms have been agreed. There's not much distance between Genoa's demands of €30 million transfer fee and
00:00:22
Speaker
Tottenham Softball, which I believe was around about 25 originally, so there's not much to bridge there.
Dragusin's Rise in Serie A
00:00:30
Speaker
He's a 21-year-old centre-back. He's been one of the breakout stars in Serie A this season. He's been watched by a number of clubs, Premier League clubs like Liverpool and Arsenal, Newcastle.
00:00:42
Speaker
also Italian clubs like Milan and Napoli. His development is a very, very interesting one. He was signed by Juventus in 2018 and at the time, Juventus beat a number of big clubs to him, Chelsea, PSG, Atletico Madrid. Juventus signed him for 250,000 euros
00:01:04
Speaker
And he started off in the youth teams. He worked his way up to the next gen team before being called up by Andrea Pierlo when he was the manager during the Covid season, 2020-21 season. And he was a teenager at that time. He made four appearances that season in all competitions.
00:01:23
Speaker
and he didn't play that much but he was seen as quite an interesting talent. He spent the next season, 21-22, on loan with Sampdoria and Selena Turner in Serie A. He made 22 appearances across both teams. Sampdoria got relegated and
00:01:47
Speaker
Genoa brought him in first on loan with an option to buy and he played a very very important role last season as Genoa got promoted and this season back in Serie A he has been a
Genoa's Strong Squad and Transfers
00:02:02
Speaker
He has been a key man for a general team who, as we said before, when we were talking earlier in the show about the draw within, they're doing well this season. They're producing a lot of very talented players. Albert Goodmanson, who I think is going to join a big club this summer, he's also been linked to a Premier League move, Aston Villa. Matteo Retiki, of course, is a goalscorer. French Rupp, who some of his stats are insane this season in Senate and Field.
Analyzing Dragusin's Defensive Skills
00:02:31
Speaker
Yeah, Radi Dragosin is one of these guys who, well, he's going to join Spurs, and he's got the ability to play for a bigger team than Genoa. And if I tell you what kind of player he is, he's a very aggressive defender, very strong mentality. He's first in Serie A this season for tackle success rate for players that have attempted 15 plus tackles a game.
00:02:58
Speaker
He's rarely dribbled past. He's only been dribbled past once this season. He's ranked fifth in Serie A for number of clearances averaged per game. I think his best attribute is probably Arialy. He's brilliant in the air. He's second in Serie A for defenders, for aerials one per game. 3.7
00:03:21
Speaker
aerials won on average per match. Only Udenezer's Jacobillo has more. That makes him fifth among all players. He's actually pretty tight from second to fourth. Then you've got Djuric, the big monster who's just, every season he's way out ahead of everyone, Djuric. So yes, if
00:03:45
Speaker
If Dragazine was to replicate these kind of numbers, aerial numbers at Tottenham, he would instantly become one of the best defenders in the league, aerially. And that obviously makes him a threat from set pieces. He scored twice this season. He scored the winner against Verona, and he scored the equaliser in the last game, last weekend, against Inter to a general point. So I think in terms of his aggression and his aerial strength, he is well suited to the Premier League.
Challenges in Adapting to Tottenham
00:04:13
Speaker
But I do think he does have some weaknesses. I mean, I've watched more of him at Juventus than at Genoa. He was very impulsive at Juventus. If you think of Tottenham fans that listen to this, think of
00:04:28
Speaker
a young Christian Romero, who's very aggressive, likes to do interceptions, comes out of his area or his zone, let's say, with his impulsiveness. And he's a bit like that. He needs to rein that in. And I think he started, he has started to rein it in as he's matured, but he can still be a bit too aggressive, kind of vacating his position, trying to win a ball when sometimes he needs to be conservative. That's always been my criticism with Romero and still is, to be honest with you. At Juventus, his passing was a weakness.
00:04:58
Speaker
It has improved since then, but I think there will still be question marks there.
00:05:05
Speaker
He was compared by a colleague of mine, my football transfer's colleague, Sam Maguire, as a very poor man's Virgil van Dijk. So take that as you want. I mean, it's very poor man's Virgil van Dijk, is the words used. So, you know, take that as you want to take it. He plays in a back three at Genoa. So he will need to adapt to top his back four. I'm not sure what system Romania use, plays for the Romanian national team. But for Genoa anyway, in club football, he'll need to adapt
00:05:35
Speaker
Also, the styles of play are very different. Genoa play counter-attacking football under Alberto Guillodino. They average only 42% possession a game, which is the third lowest in Serie A. They sit back and basically hit on the transitions. Whereas, of course, Anj Poster-Dakoglou, we know he plays front-foot football. He likes to dominate possession, a high press, very high line.
00:05:54
Speaker
59% average a game, which I don't know where that sits in the Premier League. It must be after City. It must be the second highest after City. Maybe Brighton, I don't know. But anyway, it's one of the highest in the Premier League. So it's going to be a big change from style of play.
Future Prospects for Dragusin at Tottenham
00:06:14
Speaker
So yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how how jagazine is going to do. I don't want to come out either way and say, I mean, with a dodgy, I was certain he would be a big hit with the car. I was certain we did. We know we interviewed a dodgy. We profiled the car. And we said as much with jagazine.
00:06:22
Speaker
So
00:06:31
Speaker
I don't know, I'm on the fence with him. What would you think of Jekus in how he's going to do there? Yeah, I'm very much on the fence. I'm very much on the fence with him as well. I think it's too soon to say anything definitive, but he's had a very good season with Genoa so far. He's a youngster, and of course Tottenham feel that he could potentially be a fantastic find. And for Genoa, it's a no-brainer because the amount of money on offer here.
00:06:59
Speaker
But he has interesting pedigree, Draguchi, because his mother and father are both former Romanian internationals in basketball and volleyball, and he's got a younger sister who also plays basketball, so it's a sporting family. It's one of those things in today. I haven't studied it, but it's very interesting to see how many of these young players who come up come from sporting families, and he's another one.
00:07:28
Speaker
So yeah, it's interesting. But look, I think I'm not, I can't imagine that Spurs are buying him to start. I mean, he's only he's turning 22, he turns 22 in February, early February. So I've had an injury crisis at centre back, haven't they? They've been playing football backs at centre back for quite a while now. And Romero's out for a while, isn't he? So I think
00:07:54
Speaker
Van de Ven and Romero are going to be the first choice, aren't they? And then he's going to be behind them. But they need someone. And I think Tony Bowe was their first choice, I believe. Well, I'm sure that I know that he was their first choice. So yeah, he's kind of a backup option. And yeah, it's going to be interesting. I mean, I think from General's point of view, like you said, it's a great profit.
Financial Impact for Genoa
00:08:19
Speaker
They signed him for 5.5 million.
00:08:21
Speaker
and that only was made permanent, I believe, this summer, wasn't it? Because he was on loan, well, his past summer, because he was on loan for the first bit. So it's a huge profit from 5.5 to, you know, 25 to 30 straight away. And for Juventus, this is the second time that they've sold a player
00:08:39
Speaker
who then went to Tottenham just very weeks or months after for huge money. And the other one being Romero, of course, who went to Atalanta. And then they sold him on the same summer after making that permanent for huge, huge money. So yeah, I don't know. Maybe there's a bit of regret there at Juventus.
00:09:01
Speaker
Also, like I said before, it shows how well Genoa are doing. They are developing some really quality players. The thing is, one thing I really think Genoa are doing really smart is that with Dragosin leaving, it won't hurt them as much because they have Alan Maturo in the squad there, who is a central defender from Uruguay, who was the best central defender in the Under-20 World Cup. Remember when Uruguay beat Italy.
00:09:24
Speaker
He was the defender of the tournament, and he is a very good player. And he joined in January, well, exactly a year ago, to sign for Genoa then. But yeah, so they do have a replacement in-house, and I really rate Matoro, so I'm going to be very happy to see if he can get more playing time now.