It is easy to forget, with fans and pundits alike swept along in a tide of Ange Posteocoglou positivity, that is only nine months since Tottenham Hotspur travelled to St James’ Park with a back four of Pedro Porro, Eric Dier, Ivan Perisic and Cristian Romero and promptly found themselves 5-0 down inside 21 minutes so gruesome, so blood-soaked, that it left a scene which would not have looked out of place in an Eli Roth-directed splatterfest.
It’s been some journey. Some transformation.
Upon Tottenham’s return visit to Newcastle United in April, Postecoglou could have three of the most highly-rated centre-halves at his disposal. Only one of which was a Spurs player a year earlier.
Tottenham, HITC Football understands, have finally agreed a fee in the region of £26 million with Genoa for Radu Dragusin, fighting off competition from AC Milan, Roma, Napoli and Bayern Munich.
Radu Dragusin deal imminent
Dragusin follows in the slipstream of Micky van de Ven, the £34 million Dutchman who had made such an impact upon his arrival from Wolfsburg, the budding partnership with Romero reminiscent of those heady days of Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld. So impressive, in fact, that Arsenal legends Martin Keown and Arsene Wenger were happy to put their allegiances aside to praise him.
In terms of results and points, Spurs are six points better off under Postecoglou than they were last term under Antonio Conte. But, if we are looking at the intangibles – not so much the numbers but the vibes and the atmosphere – the toxicity that turned the North London air thick with foul-smelling smoke not so long ago has not been blown away, replaced with a crisp, clean sense of a football club doing things the right way again.
In Dragusin, Van de Ven and Romero, Spurs should soon – and imminently – have three central defenders capable of waltzing into most of Europe’s A-list clubs. Three young central defenders who – at 21, 22 and 25 respectively – may have only scratched the very surface of their potential.
A 12-month transformation
Dragusin’s arrival should pave the way for Eric Dier – a symbol of Spurs’ decline in the post-Pochettino era – bring an end to a near decade-long stint, the England international having outstayed his welcome for a while now. Davinson Sanchez, who came off the bench with Spurs 5-0 down at Newcastle and helped restrict the hosts to just one more, has already departed. Ditto Clement Lenglet, largely solid but rarely superb in the English capital.
And, if you told the Tottenham fans who found themselves storming in unison towards the exit with just over a quarter of an hour gone at Newcastle that the club would have centre-halves of the talent and the promise of Dragusin, Romero and Van de Ven at their disposal when heading back to the same venue 12 months later…
Well, it might not have made that Tyneside abomination any easier to stomach. But it certainly would have had the cooling effect of a Rennie to quell a bout of painful indigestion.
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