Tottenham star’s agent touts shock exit - and makes dig at Spurs’ leaky defence
Tottenham are set for a busy summer and one player has been linked with a surprise move, with his agent already making noises
Tottenham Hotpsur are set for a busy summer in the transfer market, with plenty of comings and goings expected at the north London club as manager Ange Postecoglou seeks to build a team comfortable with his style of football.
After a strong start to the season, Spurs have struggled in the second half of the campaign and the Australian admitted after Thursday night's defeat at Chelsea that there will be big changes to his squad.
And although most of the focus will be on which players could arrive, Postecoglou also made it clear that some members of his squad will have to move on ahead of his second season in N17.
Defender Radu Dragusin is not expected to be one of those, having only signed for Tottenham from Genoa in the January transfer window, but the player's agent has voiced his concern over the Romanian's lack of appearances so far.
In quotes on Radio CRC picked up by CalcioNapoli24, Florin Manea said: "He must have patience, he has two important players in front of him, in the end he will find space. The coach has said many times that he doesn’t want to play three (at the back), he knows better, but he concedes a lot of goals for Tottenham."
And he went on to offer Postecoglou some tactical advice, as he added: "Playing with three gives you more security that you won’t concede too many goals. Tottenham concede a lot of goals from set pieces, I think Dragusin will find space in the future because Tottenham need his power."
Asked if his client would consider his options in the summer, Manea said: “If he doesn’t play we'll have to think of other solutions, but at the moment I don’t think so because he only arrived in January. Then you never know in life, let's hope not, but you never know.”
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Before signing for Tottenham from Genoa, the Romanian was also linked with Bayern Munich and Napoli. Last season's Italian champions could now appoint Antonio Conte as coach and Manea was asked if the arrival of the former Spurs boss could tempt the defender back to Serie A.
"Conte is one of the best in the world, it would be an honour to work with him, but right now it's difficult to say what will happen," he said. "If a loan offer arrived from Napoli, with Conte there, it would have to be evaluated. When you work with someone like Antonio Conte, you learn on many levels."
And when it was put to him that Postecoglou might tell the defender he will be an alternative again next season to Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, he said: “If he told him that, I don’t think Dragusin would stay and not play.”
In FourFourTwo's view, it appears far too early for Radu Dragusin to be considering a move, having only signed for Tottenham in January. While it will be a concern to the player that he has not featured for Spurs since late March, it is also his job to earn a place in Ange Postecoglou's XI and the north London club are unlikely to be impressed by his agent's comments.
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Ben Hayward is a European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine.