Forgotten Tottenham star reveals injury return timeframe after Premier League club rejected national team approach
Radu Dragusin has confirmed he expects to be fit and fighting for a place in the Tottenham team within a month.
Spurs rejected attempts by Romania boss Mircea Lucescu to call Dragusin into the national team squad to train and lift spirits ahead of Sunday’s vital World Cup qualifier against Austria and be among the substitutes, even if he was unable to start.
The 23-year-old defender was keen to answer call from Lucescu, a legend of Romanian football. He is itching to get back into action but understands the caution of club medics as he completes his recover from a cruciate knee ligament injury suffered in January.
‘Mircea Lucescu wanted me back in the team of course,’ said Dragusin at a sponsor’s event in Bucharest. ‘I wanted to be together with my teammates again and to play for Romania. But, on the other hand, I understood that a couple of weeks more, a month more of waiting it will help me for the future.
‘Of course, I think I am already ready now, but in the long term it will me help to have more stability and safety for a longer career. Tottenham is taking all measures to come back stronger than before.
‘I tell you that I’m gonna come back in a better shape than I was before the injury and in a better point to continue my career.’
Radu Dragusin has revealed that he is close to a Tottenham return after 10 months out injured
Dragusin tore cruciate knee ligaments playing in a Europa League tie against Elfsborg in January
Tottenham beat competition from Bayern Munich to sign Dragusin for £26.7million from Genoa in January 2024. Twelve months later, he tore cruciate knee ligaments playing in a Europa League tie against Elfsborg.
‘ACL is the one of the worst injuries in football, if not the worst,’ said Dragusin. ‘You need a longer time to recover than the most people imagine. You cannot doubt what the medical staff of Tottenham is doing or the physiotherapists or especially the surgeon who made the surgery. They have the best knowledge and the greatest experience.’
Dragusin is not expected to dislodge Tottenham’s first-choice central defenders Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven but his return to full fitness will extend Thomas Frank’s defensive options and cover. Kevin Danso and Kota Takai are also competing for places in central defence.
A Carabao Cup tie at Newcastle at the end of October provides an inviting target.
