The future of Radu Dragusin has taken a dramatic twist, with a journalist revealing that Napoli manager Antonio Conte is now interested in signing the Tottenham Hotspur defender despite him having already reached an agreement with AS Roma.
Dragusin has fully recovered from an ACL injury that he suffered in January 2025 and is now fully match fit. However, the defender’s days at Tottenham are numbered, with AS Roma keen on securing his services in the January transfer window.
Roma have already had a loan offer for Dragusin with the option to make the deal permanent next summer turned down, but the Italian club are still determined to sign him.
According to a report published in Il Corriere dello Sport on Tuesday morning, Dragusin is ‘pushing for Roma’.
The Romania international defender is said to have been ‘in contact with Roma for days’ and has ‘already reached an agreement on a contractual basis’.
While Tottenham are willing to sell the 23-year-old this month, last season’s Europa League winners are asking for €20million (£17.3m, $23.3m).
Not only do Roma not want to pay more than €15m (£13m, $17.5m) for Dragusin, but the Italian club want to make a loan deal with an option to buy, subject to certain conditions.
That is because Roma do not want to invest a lot in a player who has only just recovered from a long-term cruciate ligament injury.
There has now been a twist, with Italian journalist Mirko Di Natale reporting on Tuesday afternoon on X that Napoli have ‘enquired’ about Dragusin.
Napoli are now managed by former Tottenham manager Antonio Conte, who won the Scudetto with Gli Azzurri last season and is aiming to clinch the Serie A title in the 2025/26 campaign.
Di Natale, who has over 33,00 followers on X, wrote at 12:23pm on January 13: “#Napoli has recently inquired about the situation regarding Radu #Dragusin.
“#Roma remains the club furthest along, but negotiations with #Tottenham are at a standstill. There’s no agreement on the deal structure (there’s currently no conviction on the loan with option to buy).
“#Lipsia (which is offering #Tottenham the outright purchase) stays in the background.”
Dragusin joined Tottenham from Genoa in January 2024 for £26.7m (€31m, $30.8m), including add-ons.
The Romania international centre-back is under contract at the north London club until the summer of 2030.
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