Former Tottenham transfer chief set to raid club for defender

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Tottenham centre-back Radu Dragusin is set to join Fiorentina on an initial season-long loan switch, talkSPORT understands.The deal is believed to contain an obligation buy clause should the 24-year-old reach a certain amount of games.Tottenham defender Dragusin is on his way out after two-and-a-half-years in north LondonGettyThat figure is said to be worth in the region of £21.4million.The move is being orchestrated by Fiorentina sporting director Fabio Paratici, who was only appointed at the Italian side in February.Former Juventus chief Paratici enjoyed two spells at Tottenham – returning to the club in 2025 after being forced to step down in April 2023 after being hit with a worldwide ban by FIFA.The 53-year-old has made it a habit of raiding former clubs, having signed Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur from the Old Lady, as well as ex-Juve prospect Cristian Romero.Drag raceDragusin in now poised to return to Serie A having only made the move from Genoa to Spurs in a £25m deal in January 2024.His arrival in north London was seen as a major coup at the time, with Tottenham fending off competition from Bayern Munich in the race to secure his services.But he has failed to make an impact at Spurs having been brought in as a back-up to Romero and Micky van de Ven.The arrival of Kevin Danso in February 2025 pushed the Romania international further down the pecking order.And Spurs have also furthered strengthened at the back this summer – signing Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton for £52m.Dragusin has flattered to deceive when relied upon for SpursGettyThat is in addition to snapping up Marcos Senesi on a free transfer after the Argentina defender run his contract down at Bournemouth.In total, Dragusin has been restricted to just 48 outings in all competitions during his two-and-a-half-year stay at Spurs.He featured in just ten Premier League matches in the 2025/26 season – being named in the line-up on just five occasions.In each of the games that he started in the top-flight, Spurs failed to record a win – losing three and drawing twice.One of those matches came in the 4-1 north London derby defeat to Arsenal on home soil, where he was bullied by Sweden striker Viktor Gyokeres.Slamming his performance, ex-Aston Villa striker and talkSPORT co-host Gabby Agbonlahor said: “I thought Gyokeres was very good.It’s been a busy summer at Tottenham already, with more activity expectedGetty“But what I will say is, me and Ally [McCoist] would look very good against Dragusin.“I’m not being funny, but he’s a terrible defender.“And Gyokeres, holding the ball up well, took his goals very well, but can we see it week in, week out now?”Tottenham’s transfer window so farSpurs have been the busiest club in the window so far, having also signed Andy Robertson on a free transfer, along with goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.And they also broke their transfer record to bring in Mateus Fernandes in an £85m deal from West Ham.That transfer will soon be eclipsed by the arrival of Sandro Tonali, with Spurs agreeing a package deal worth £100m with Newcastle.World Cup WhatsAppDon't miss an update from talkSPORT in our dedicated World Cup WhatsApp channel.Search for ‘talkSPORT World Cup’ in your ‘Updates’ tab on WhatsApp and we’ll drop the proper, unfiltered football chat straight to your lock screen—no fluff, just pure talkSPORT energy.It’s where you’ll find out all the new rules to watch out for, England and Scotland reaction and big match player ratings. Plus there will be loads of debates on the biggest talking points as Haaland, Mbappe, Kane and the biggest names in football descend on America, Canada and Mexico.