Napoli have been criticised for their failure to bring in Radu Dragusin with Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur snatching the £26 million former Genoa defender from under the noses of the Serie A champions.
22 points worse off now than at this stage during that glorious Scudetto winning campaign, Napoli find themselves unable to find the net at one end and incapable of keeping their sheet clean at the other.
A combination of profligacy and vulnerability usually only leads to one thing, and Walter Mazzarri could yet have the Partenopei looking for a third head coach since Luciano Spalletti rode off into the glorious sunset just seven months ago.
Radu Dragusin, Tottenham’s new number six, could have gone a long way to solidifying a backline struggling to fill a considerable, Kim-Min Jae shaped hole.
But the £26 million Romania international opted to join Spurs over the Italian champions, according to Dragusin’s agent, and Alessandro Renica cannot help but consider this an opportunity missed.
Tottenham beat Napoli to Radu Dragusin
“It’s not easy in January to find players to strengthen Napoli’s squad,” Renica, a two-time Scudetto winner alongside Diego Maradona in the south, tells Radio Kiss Kiss.
“Napoli’s biggest problem is the defence, and they must find an important central defender. (But) Dragusin went to Tottenham.
“The midfield also needs reinforcing, but no more so than the defence. Napoli’s real problem is the lack of planning.”
Mazzarri’s side have lost three of their last four games, conceding nine goals without reply. Dragusin, with his fearsome aerial ability and his superb passing range, looked every inch the ideal Kim replacement, but will instead bring his power and his ponytal to North London.
Spurs debut this weekend?
“Napoli were there from the beginning in a very concrete way. I spoke many times with (president Aurelio) De Laurentiis. AC Milan also wanted him,” Dragusin’s agent Florin Manea tells Tuttomercatoweb, confirming what HITC reported a few days ago.
“Napoli was the most concrete club. But Radu didn’t want to go to another Italian team.
“When Milan did a survey, I spoke to (technical director Geoffrey) Moncada and told him that we had already chosen Tottenham.
“We are happy with the choice.”
Dragusin could make his Spurs debut – alongside Timo Werner – during this weekend’s trip to Manchester United.
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