Tottenham Hotspur defender Radu Dragusin is set to join Fiorentina on a season-long loan deal with an obligation to buy permanently, should a minimum number of appearances be met.
Spurs, who will retain a 10 per cent sell-on clause for the Romania international, are in the process of overhauling their central defensive options this summer. They have already signed Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton & Hove Albion and and Marcos Senesi from Bournemouth.
Separately, Brighton have agreed a deal to sign Spurs centre-back Luka Vuskovic in a deal worth up to £50million.
Dragusin’s game-time over the past 18 months has been severely restricted following an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
He started 21 out of 22 games for Spurs in all competitions between 30 October 2024 and 26 January 2025, and the one game he did not start, against Chelsea, he came on after 15 minutes.
However, the 24-year-old then suffered an ACL injury in his right knee which ruled him out for 11 months and he only returned to the pitch in December 2025.
Dragusin featured 11 times in the second half of the 2025-26 campaign for Spurs, but was behind Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Kevin Danso in Roberto De Zerbi’s pecking order.
‘Good business for Spurs’
Analysis by Sebastian Stafford-Bloor
Clearly Tottenham’s recruitment this summer has been focused partly on their defence and the arrivals of Van Hecke and Senesi relegated Dragusin, who was already a back-up option, further down the pecking order. In that light, for Spurs to get a significant fee for a fifth-choice centre-back is good business.
Additionally, it seemed unlikely that Dragusin had the attributes to play for De Zerbi. The Italian coach emphasises ball progression, which is not among the Romania international’s strengths; he’s not a searching passer, nor is he a dynamic carrier.
Tottenham have publicly stressed the need to become better sellers and, having already sanctioned the departure of Vuskovic to Brighton (for a fee that could eventually rise to £50m), this is another piece of business aimed at extracting value for a player of limited immediate use.