Tottenham Hotspur are set to sign Genoa defender Radu Dragusin but will need him to impress more than the last three Romanians to turn out for the club.
This has been quite the saga in recent days but Tottenham Hotspur finally seem close to landing Genoa centre back Radu Dragusin.
Tottenham were in the box seat to land Dragusin before Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich made a move to hijack the deal.
Ange Postecoglou and co have pulled it out of the bag though, making a huge statement by beating Bayern to Dragusin’s signature.
Dragusin should be confirmed as a Tottenham player soon enough, so let’s look at the other Romanians to have turned out for Spurs…
Ilie Dumitrescu
Winger Dumitrescu was a star for Steaua Bucharest and his performances at the 1994 World Cup in USA tempted Tottenham into a deal.
Spurs never really saw the best of Dumitrescu and he played just 18 Premier League games, scoring four goals.
Dumitrescu was sent on loan to Sevilla and then sold to West Ham United in 1996, where he continued to struggle.
After becoming a hero in Romania, Dumitrescu never really impressed elsewhere and after spells with America, Atlante and one last run with Steaua, he retired in 1998.
Dumitrescu did carve out a decent managerial career in the 2000’s though, taking charge of teams like AEK Athens, PAOK and Steaua.
Gheorghe Popescu
Popescu joined Tottenham back in 1994 having been a star for Universitatea Craiova and PSV Eindhoven, but he lasted less than a year in England.
The centre back managed 23 Premier League appearances for Tottenham before being sold to Barcelona in 1995.
Popescu went on to play regularly for Barca before a superb spell at Galatasaray, eventually finishing up his career with Lecce, Dinamo Bucharest and Hannover 96.
A Romanian legend with 115 international caps to his name, Popescu endured a difficult time in North London but seemed to thrive elsewhere.
Vlad Chiriches
The most recent Romanian to play for Spurs is defender Vlad Chiriches, who arrived in 2013 as part of Tottenham’s spending spree with the Gareth Bale money.
Much like Dumitrescu, centre back Chiriches had excelled for Steaua Bucharest before heading to Spurs.
Chiriches only managed 43 games for Tottenham though and was flogged to Serie A side Napoli after just two years at the club.
Chiriches carved out a solid eight-year career in Italy, turning out for Napoli, Sassuolo and Cremonese before returning to Steaua last year.
Tottenham’s three previous Romanians really didn’t live up to expectations, so it’s now up to Dragusin to step up and prove to be the exception.
Dragusin clearly has huge talent and potential and hopes are high for him as he prepares to join Tottenham even after seeing his compatriots struggle after making the same move.
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