Manchester United have already lost sight of one of their January transfer targets.
Erik ten Hag, ideally, would like to spend this January. His Manchester United side have been seriously struggling with injuries this season, which has led to a rather disjointed first-team squad.
The backline has been particularly affected. The loss of Lisandro Martinez, Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof, combined with the uncertainty about Raphael Varane‘s future, has led to questions on who could be the next centre-half on his way into Old Trafford.
It looks like they’ve missed out on one of their targets to a Premier League rival.
Manchester United have lost out on Radu Dragusin
Radu Dragusin, identified as a Manchester United target in late November, now looks destined for Tottenham Hotspur.
Fabrizio Romano confirmed last Sunday that the Romanian centre-half had ‘agreed personal terms’ with Ange Postecoglou’s side.
The deal has been moving swiftly, with HITC reporting that talks are progressing between Spurs and the player’s Italian employers Genoa.
The North London giants have accelerated negotiations as terms have been agreed in principle with the player’s camp.
The deal looks to be worth around £25m. An absolute steal considering some of his impressive stats.
Radu Dragusin comparative to Virgil van Dijk
At the humble age of just 21, Dragusin has been bossing it in the Serie A.
Dragusin has won more aerial duels than any other defender in the Italian top flight this season (53). This puts him above the likes of Fikayo Tomori, Matthijs de Ligt and Alessandro Bastoni.
But his most impressive statistic has to be the fact that he’s only been dribbled past once.
This reminds us of the Virgil van Dijk statistic, with only one player managing to successfully dribble past the Dutch centre-back across a total of 56 appearances for club and country across a season.
Now, Dragusin has only played 18 games, but he’s well on his way there.
A missed opportunity for Manchester United, who will now likely have to face the 6’3 powerhouse on the 14th of January as they take on Spurs at Old Trafford.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/LHRNAIJ