Radu Dragusin told not to ‘jump ship’ at Tottenham despite new summer transfer update
Alan Hutton has told Tottenham defender Radu Dragusin he shouldn’t “jump ship” this summer despite new transfer updates from his agent.
The 22-year-old joined Postecoglou’s ranks in North London in the January transfer window, signing for a reported £26.7million from Genoa [Sky Sports, 12 January], but he has struggled to play regular football in North London, only starting twice in the league.
Spurs fended off a lot of competition to secure the Romanian’s signature this winter, but Dragusin’s agent has now suggested the defender won’t stay with the Lilywhites for long if he continues to be left on the bench [Football Italia, 3 May].
While Hutton understands the centre-back will want to be playing week in and week out in the Premier League, he has urged him to knuckle down in a Spurs shirt to force his way back into Postecoglou’s thinking.
“Surely he knew when he signed that this would be the case,” Hutton told Tottenham News.
“You’re never guaranteed to start unless you’re a top star so you need to go and prove yourself, fight for your place and show the manager that you’re capable. Over the course of the season, Van de Ven has been outstanding, his quality on the ball and his recovery pace is outstanding.
“Romero is always going to be play, he’s a World Cup winner and even though they have conceded a lot of goals recently I think he’s probably been the main guy at the back so it was always going to be hard for Dragusin.
“I think when you’re playing for a team like Tottenham who are challenging at the top end of the table, there is always going to be that strong competition. You can’t just not play for x amount of weeks after you signed and then decide that you want out, you want to leave.
“Surely you believe in your own ability that you can go and force your way in. I think it’s too quick to try and jump ship but it will be an interesting one.”
Will Tottenham and Ange Postecoglou sell Radu Dragusin in the summer transfer window?
As Hutton suggests, whenever Van de Ven and Romero are fit, they are going to start week in and week out for Postecoglou as they have shown that they can be reliable and play in the manner the Australian wants.
That does make it hard for Dragusin to hold down a consistent starting role, but he has shown very little in his limited minutes to suggest Postecoglou should be tearing up his tactical plan to force the defender into the team.
But with a strong pre-season under his belt, there is every chance the 22-year-old will become a regular fixture in this Spurs backline for years to come. He simply has to bide his time and then grab his chance with both hands when it arrives.
In other Tottenham news, James Maddison will be “angry” with Postecoglou after recent developments in North London
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