Tottenham Hotspur have already sold Brennan Johnson to start the January transfer window, and they have made a few key loan maneuvers, including switching forward Manor Solomon over from Villarreal to Fiorentina, where executive Fabio Paratici will eventually join him.
As Tottenham try to bring in other players besides left back prospect Souza, who will soon officially join Spurs this winter, they are also negotiating some potential sales for players like Yves Bissouma in midfield.
But the player pushing the most for a transfer out of the N17 is young center back Radu Dragusin. Fresh off a major injury, Dragusin does not see a path to playing time as the fourth center back behind stars Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, as well as the reliable Kevin Danso.
Tottenham reject Radu Dragusin's dream
So Dragusin wants a move out this winter, preferably back to Serie A, which is a league he fit much better than the Premier League. The former Juventus prospect has been linked to Juve, but the Italian giant with the most interest in him is AS Roma - and he seems to be pushing publicly for a move to join the Giallorossi.
According to a new report from Football.London, Tottenham Hotspur have actually rejected the latest transfer offer from Roma for Radu Dragusin. It is actually a loan offer for the center back, but Spurs still did not want to grant the 23 year old his wish to join the "Gladiators" - as if being a gladiator was such a high ranking status at that time.
Anyway, the answer to why Tottenham want to hold onto Dragusin is pretty obvious. Not only have they not actually seen how he fits under Thomas Frank - or whoever replaces Frank in the nearer future than even the club would like to admit - but, most importantly, they can't really afford to sell more players right now.
Souza is coming in at left back, but Ben Davies is still important cover there. So for all intents and purposes, Spurs only really have the four center backs in the squad when you include Dragusin with Danso, Romero, and Van de Ven.
Tottenham do not want to go thinner than that. And if they are going to lose the depth with Dragusin, there is no point in loaning him for six months and getting no money back right now when these six months are the six months they would need him. They could maybe justify selling him in the summer when Luka Vuskovic takes his place after his loan deal is done, but a loan this winter does not make as much sense for Spurs.