Italian football expert Nicky Bandini takes a closer look at Radu Dragusin's journey from the Juventus academy to Tottenham Hotspur following the defender's move to north London from Genoa.
Player analysis: Radu Dragusin
Did Radu Dragusin see another message from Giorgio Chiellini pop up on his phone this week before making his decision to join Tottenham Hotspur?
The pair have stayed in touch since playing together for Juventus at the start of the decade. Chiellini was a nine-time Serie A champion with more than 100 appearances for Italy. Dragusin was a teenager, pushing for his senior breakthrough.
The Romanian made 15 appearances for Juventus’s Under-23 side, competing in Italy’s third tier, and four for the first team. He then went on loan to Sampdoria, Salernitana and finally Genoa – who triggered a clause to make the transfer permanent in 2023.
At the time, Dragusin worried about travelling in the wrong direction. Those first two moves kept him playing top-flight football, but Genoa had been relegated to Serie B before he signed.
Chiellini told him not to sweat such details. “You’re strong,” he wrote in a text to Dragusin. “Don’t worry, you’re going to succeed wherever you go.”
He was right. Dragusin dominated Serie B, helping Genoa to secure an immediate top-flight return. In a team that valued possession and deliberate build-up play, he showed himself to be a composed and effective distributor – completing the second-most passes of any player in the division, according to FBref.
Returning to Serie A required a sharp re-adjustment from Genoa, who had to learn to play without the ball against better opponents. But Dragusin continued to impress. In the first half of this season, he recorded the second-most clearances of any player in the division and won the third-most aerial duels.
His physicality is a strength. Dragusin stands at 6ft 3in tall with an imposing build, but size only means something if you know how to use it. Here, again, that relationship with Chiellini has helped. Speaking to TV Play in Italy last week, Dragusin’s agent, Florin Manea, recalled more words that left an impression.
“I don’t think Giorgio will get angry at me for sharing this,” said Manea. “He sent advice saying ‘look, now you have a lot of strength you need to work a lot on your mobility because if not you will become a bit cumbersome'. So [Dragusin] works a lot now on his mobility to stay agile.”
It would neither be accurate, nor helpful to describe Spurs' new signing as “the next Chiellini”, but you can see the influence in his game. Dragusin had more than one exceptional role model at Juventus and has spoken of things he learned from Leonardo Bonucci – “a No 10 adapted to play in defence” – as well as Matthijs De Ligt – “an animal” – but it was Chiellini who he named as “my idol”.
Like the Italian, Dragusin prefers to play on the front foot, getting close to opponents and disrupting moves before they get going. Yet he is not one to dive into challenges – averaging fewer than one tackle per match this season despite playing for a team that has frequently fought rearguard actions. He has only been booked once in 2023/24, and that for a challenge on Internazionale Milano’s goalkeeper, Yann Sommer.
At Genoa, he has alternated between playing in the middle or on the right side of a back three. His strength in the air makes him a natural fit for the former role, but his aggression has served him well in the latter as well, where Dragusin has had success squeezing opposing wingers and preventing them from building up a head of steam. Opta’s numbers show that only one opponent has successfully dribbled past him all season.
Dragusin's Serie A stats 2023/24*
| Stat | Total | Serie A ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Matches started | 19 | 1st |
| Clearances completed | 87 | 2nd |
| Aerial duels won | 59 | 3rd |
| Headed clearances | 45 | 3rd |
| Shots from headers | 12 | 9th |
Dragusin has had an impact at the other end of the pitch, too, with a winning goal against Verona in November, and the equaliser in Genoa’s draw at home to leaders Inter last month.
The latter was a header from a corner, but the first was an astonishingly well-taken volley. Afterwards he went to manager Alberto Gilardino, a former Italy striker who scored 188 goals in Serie A, and joked, “That could have been one of yours.”
Watch Dragusin's goal v Verona
Spurs probably ought not to count on many repeats, even if Dragusin did also register four goals in Serie B last season.
He is first and foremost a talented young defender who, at 21-years-old, still has potential to improve. It will not hurt, either, if one of the best centre-backs of a generation continues to deliver good advice to his inbox.
Nicky Bandini (@nickybandini) is a sports writer and broadcaster who specialises in European football
