Tottenham Hotspur defender Radu Dragusin is out of Euro 2024 after Romania were knocked out by the Netherlands on Tuesday evening.
Ange Postecoglou has been busy with the transfer market with Tottenham Hotspur completing the signing of Archie Gray from Leeds United.
The Australian will have still had one eye on Euro 2024 though, especially with Radu Dragusin in action against the Netherlands.
Romania made their way through the group stage, beating Ukraine before losing to Belgium and drawing with Slovakia.
A clash with the Netherlands was always going to be tricky for Romania and so it proved as they lost 3-0 in Munich.
Cody Gakpo’s opener and a Donyell Malen brace saw the Netherlands go through, teeing up a quarter-final clash against Turkey.
Danny Murphy on Tottenham’s Radu Dragusin
This was just a step too far for Romania, who earned fans in the group stage but came up short against the Dutch.
Tottenham centre back Dragusin continued to shine in the heart of the Romania defence but did have one moment he will want to forget.
Dragusin thought that he had done enough to see the ball out of play at 1-0, but Gakpo kept it in and found Malen to take the game away from Romania.
The rest of Dragusin’s display was hugely impressive, including a stunning last-gasp clearance to deny what looked like an easy tap in for Memphis.
Pundit and former Tottenham midfielder Danny Murphy was certainly impressed, suggesting on BBC Sport that Dragusin has been ‘outstanding’ throughout Euro 2024.
Murphy feels that Dragusin has been Romania’s ‘best player’ and believes that Tottenham fans will have loved watching him in action this summer.
“He’s been outstanding, Dragusin,” said Murphy. “Really, really good at the heart of their defence. Arguably been their best player and Tottenham fans will be delighted watching him in this tournament, that’s for sure,” he added.
Dragusin desperate to impress
Dragusin went into Euro 2024 in a tricky spot.
The 22-year-old was viewed as a key player for Romania but had struggled for starts at Tottenham following a January move from Genoa.
Breaking into the Tottenham team ahead of Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven is not easy and Dragusin found that.
The former Juventus talent managed just fours starts before the end of the season but did start the final two games of the campaign.
Dragusin therefore headed to Germany not only looking to prove himself to Postecoglou and Tottenham, but show that he hadn’t missed a beat for Romania.
Dragusin certainly showed his quality at Euro 2024 and will be looking ahead to Tottenham’s pre-season preparations as he pushes for more first-team action next season.
Postecoglou surely would have been impressed this summer and Dragusin can be pleased with his efforts at Euro 2024 despite crashing out on Tuesday.
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