Tottenham are on the verge of welcoming Radu Dragusin back into the fold after a lengthy injury lay-off.
The Romania international is yet to play any part in the Thomas Frank era, as he continues to recover from an ACL injury sustained back in January.
Dragusin was briefly linked with a Tottenham exit in the summer, but he is now growing ever closer towards a return to first-team contention.
It has been a long and difficult road to recovery for the centre-back, but the Lilywhites may be about to reap the benefits from an unusual decision regarding his return.
Tottenham reject Radu Dragusin Romania call-up
Tottenham will need to manage Dragusin’s minutes when he does return to the rest of the group, but he will provide a valuable additional centre-back option to Frank when he is back to his best.
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The North Londoners fought off competition from Bayern Munich when they signed him from Genoa in 2024, and the 23-year-old has a big future ahead of him, both at club and international level.
His national team boss Mircea Lucescu has attempted to pick Dragusin in his squad for the upcoming international break, only to be thwarted by Spurs, according to the Daily Mail.
The 80-year-old chief is understood to have intended to have the defender training with his group in order to boost morale ahead of their crucial World Cup qualifiers, but Tottenham have stood in his way.
The Lilywhites’ decision is certainly an eye-catching one, given that it isn’t exactly common to see clubs actively block international call-ups, but it is one that has undoubtedly been taken with their best interests in mind.
Spurs’ decision is sensible as Radu Dragusin ‘one month away’
Tottenham haven’t been able to call upon Dragusin for a period of over eight months now, but there could finally be light at the end of the tunnel for them.
The Daily Mail feature quotes from Lucescu via Romanian outlet Fanatik, in which he states that: “He (Dragusin) needs one more month to play again.”
With that in mind, it is certainly a wise decision from the N17 outfit to block the call-up and ensure that the final stages of the player’s recovery go to plan.
The end is within sight for Dragusin, and the last thing that Frank and Co. would have wanted was for them to let him out of their sight, and for him to aggravate the issue once again on international duty.
They may even be able to reap the benefits from their call even further and have him back in action within weeks, if everything goes to plan.