Ange could ditch Dragusin at Spurs by signing £25m-rated "battleship"

Submitted by daniel on
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Tottenham Hotspur have really put their fans through the wringer so far this season.

One moment, the North Londoners put three past Manchester United at Old Trafford, and then the next, they hand Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town their first Premier League wins of the season.

Ange Postecoglou has certainly brought back the entertaining style of football that Spurs fans used to pride themselves on, but he hasn't been able to iron out the inconsistencies that could ultimately cost him come May.

However, it's not entirely his fault as he's got to work with the players he has, and some of them, like Radu Dragusin, just don't appear to be good enough, so Daniel Levy and Co should look to bring in a replacement in 2025, a player they could get for free.

Dragusin's season so far

Now, the first thing to say is that while Dragusin has been generally quite poor so far this season, he's obviously not the sole reason that Spurs have struggled in games, but he certainly hasn't helped either.

For example, on his European debut for the club against Qarabağ FK, a game which should have been a relatively easy one for the club, he managed to get himself sent off before ten minutes were played.

Fortunately, his teammates put in an impressive showing and came away with all three points and, in turn, protected him from what could have been a considerable level of backlash had they lost with ten men.

Unfortunately, he was much more at fault for the loss to Galatasaray last week, as he once again made countless foolish fouls, took a poor touch that led to Victor Osimhen's first goal and generally looked out at sea in what was an extremely hostile environment.

It's not just been in Europe where the former Genoa ace has struggled either, as he was notably poor against Ipswich Town in the Premier League last weekend as well and received a paltry 3/10 match rating from respected Spurs writer Alasdair Gold.

Overall, it's hard to see Dragusin improving much as the season progresses, so it would be wise for Levy and Co. to look for an upgrade, and the good news is that they have already been linked with one.

The impressive defender who could replace Dragusin

So, while there are undoubtedly a whole host of talented defenders that Spurs could work on bringing to North London next year, one in particular would be an excellent addition to the team: Jonathan Tah.

The good news is that, according to a report from the Boot Room earlier this week, the club are interested in the German ace and have already talked with intermediaries about a potential deal.

However, it gets even better, as the 28-year-old's surprisingly small £45k-per-week contract is set to expire in the summer, meaning he'll be available for free and will be able to sign a pre-agreement with non-German clubs from January.

With all that said, why would the Bayer Leverkusen ace be a great signing?

Well, the first big bonus is that, as well as being 6 foot 5, which should help him adapt to the physical nature of the Premier League, the Hamburg-born "battleship", as dubbed by former teammate Christoph Kramer, is vastly experienced.

Across his career, the defensive titan has made 20 appearances for Hamburg, 23 for Düsseldorf, 370 for Leverkusen, who he helped win a league and cup double last season, and has won 32 caps for the German national team, so it's unlikely that there would be any situation in a Spurs shirt that would see him overawed and make silly mistakes akin to Dragusin last week.

Finally, he's no slouch with the ball at his feet, either.

According to FBref, which compares players across Europe's top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League, the German ace sits in the top 1% of centre-backs for pass completion, the top 6% for total shots, the top 11% for touches in the opposition's penalty area and the top 14% for attempted and progressive passes, all per 90.