Credit: Getty Images

James Barker

Fri 27 March 2026 9:10, UK

Tottenham Hotspur defender Radu Dragusin put in a disappointing performance as his Romania team saw their World Cup hopes ended by Turkey on Thursday night.

Dragusin played the full 90 minutes for Romania in Istanbul, but couldn’t prevent his side from being beaten 1-0, extinguishing their dreams of appearing in this summer’s World Cup.

The 24-year-old centre-back continues to have a hugely underwhelming 2025-26 campaign on all fronts then, as he now heads back to N17.

He’s made just nine total appearances in all competitions for Spurs this term, and is facing a highly uncertain future in North London as we head towards the summer transfer window’s re-opening.

So, with only seven games of the Premier League season to go, Dragusin’s performance for Romania won’t have done much to suggest he should play a larger role in Tottenham’s relegation run-in.

How did Radu Dragusin perform for Romania vs Turkey?

Dragusin is contracted to Tottenham until 2030, after signing a six-year contract with Spurs when joining from Genoa in January 2024.

However, the defender looks to be firmly on the N17 chopping block this summer, regardless of whether Tottenham are playing Premier League or Championship football for 2026-27.

That notion will probably have only been cemented further in the minds of Tottenham decision-makers after his showing for Romania against Turkey on Thursday too, as it wasn’t one that sent a strong message back to North London.

As per Sofascore, Dragusin failed to win his lone tackle attempt across the entire 90 minutes, whilst also making just one interception and one recovery.

He also committed a foul, played zero key passes, completed just 73 per cent of his passes inside his own half accurately, made zero dribble attempts and progressed with the ball by -13.5 metres respectively.

Turkey hurled 16 shots at the Romania goal, and only needed one of their two shots on target to find the net courtesy of Brighton defender Ferdi Kadioglu.

Dragusin has been huge transfer miss for Tottenham

Upon signing from Genoa in the winter of 2024, Dragusin was one of the most in-demand young defenders in European football.

Joining in a deal worth a reported fee of around £26million, the then-21-year-old was being courted by the likes of Bayern Munich before opting to join Spurs instead: a decision he may well wish he had back.

Since then, he’s made just 46 competitive appearances for Tottenham, and with a mere five Premier League starts to his name this term with a little over 500 minutes of league action to boot, he’s completely out in the North London cold.

As such, there aren’t many signings in recent Spurs memory that have been as disappointing as Dragusin, and whilst there could still be time for him to turn things around, that feels a prospect held considerably more in desperation than in belief.