Postecoglou actually spoke to £27m star four times before he signed for Tottenham

Add as preferred source on Google

Ange Postecoglou played a key role in Tottenham Hotspur managing to sign Radu Dragusin in the January transfer window, speaking to the defender on a number of occasions in the hours before he joined.

Radu Dragusin has been one of the few significant movers in the window. The Romanian arrived for around £27 million to bolster their options in a season which has seen both Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero sidelined with injury.

Securing Dragusin’s signature did not appear to be plain-sailing for Tottenham. As the finishing line appeared in sight, Bayern Munich made a move to hijack Spurs’ move for Dragusin.

Ange Postecoglou spoke to Radu Dragusin several times before Tottenham move

At one stage, reports claimed that Dragusin’s preference was to join Bayern. But ultimately, he would sign for Tottenham, becoming their second signing of the window after Timo Werner.

And it seems that Tottenham were always hopeful that they would win the race for the 21-year-old.

Speaking on the Last Word on Spurs podcast, journalist Ben Jacobs suggested that Ange Postecoglou made a real effort to ensure that Dragusin knew how wanted he was in North London.

“They were very confident and optimistic of getting it done quickly, and they got it over the line,” he said.

“And yes, there was a Bayern hijack. But they were too late in the race. And even though there were some very public, and I thought bizarre comments to say in the aftermath that somehow the player was wowed by Bayern but gave his word to Spurs, the reality is that for all the noise, he’s a Tottenham player. And if he wanted to go to Bayern, he could’ve gone to Bayern. So we have to assume that Tottenham is his number one choice despite some agent comments suggesting that it was a really hard decision, and almost implying, if we’re reading between the lines, that if Bayern had bothered to come earlier, it might have been a different story.

“But the optimism was always there from Tottenham. And the reason for that was again Ange Postecoglou being decisive. I’m told that he had four conversations with the player in the space of about 72 hours and kept in contact with him. Postecoglou made sure that every single day in the build-up to that transfer happening, Dragusin was aware of the Tottenham project.”

Big coup for Spurs

It was a massive coup for Tottenham to seal a move for Dragusin. As Jacobs notes, the defender could have gone to Bayern had he really wanted to.

But he sees the benefit in moving to North London. He may have to be patient when it comes to securing a regular spot in the side with van de Ven and Romero now back. But his opportunities will come.

It says a lot about how influential Postecoglou is in attracting players to the club. He has improved nearly single one of those currently within his squad. And Tottenham now find themselves in title contention.

If Spurs now make a move for someone, that player can be confident that they stand a fantastic chance of going to that next level.