Tottenham have beaten off late competition from Bayern Munich to sign Genoa defender Radu Drăgusin, sources have told ESPN.
Spurs have agreed a deal worth around €25 million ($27.3m) plus a further €5m in add-ons which will also see defender Djed Spence join the Italian club on a six-month loan with an option to make the transfer permanent for €10m.
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Sources have told ESPN that after Tottenham edged ahead of Napoli in the race to land the 21-year-old, Bayern suddenly entered the running on Tuesday as Spence stalled over joining Genoa.
Bayern offered to pay the full cost of the transfer up front but Drăgusin indicated a preference to join Spurs. In addition, Spence has now agreed to move — one source suggested Genoa are not paying a loan fee — and Dragusin is travelling to London on Wednesday to undergo a medical ahead of his transfer.
Sources have told ESPN that Spurs had a plane on standby on Wednesday morning for Spence who is set to travel to Italy imminently.
Drăgusin joined Genoa from Juventus, initially on loan, in the summer of 2022 and helped the club secure promotion from Serie B before playing every minute in Serie A this term.
Spurs are hopeful of completing a deal in time for Drăgusin to be eligible to face Manchester United at Old Trafford in Sunday’s Premier League fixture.
Ange Postecoglou has been keen to sign at least one central defender in the January window given Cristian Romero is not expected to play again until February after suffering a hamstring injury.
Netherlands international Micky Van de Ven returned to the match day squad in Spurs’ FA Cup victory over Burnley on Friday after picking up his own hamstring injury in the defeat to Chelsea on Nov. 6.
Postecoglou has chosen to rely on full-backs Emerson Royal and Ben Davies in a central role in Romero and Van de Ven’s absence with Eric Dier still out of favour. Bayern are interested in Dier as a possible alternative to Drăgusin.
Spence will hope to kickstart his career after a loan spell at Leeds was cut short. Postecoglou did not want Spence to be part of his squad and sources told ESPN that he was sent to train with the under-21s while a new club was found.
The 23-year-old joined Tottenham in July 2022 for a deal worth up to £19m but has made just six substitute appearance for the club, spending the second half of last season on loan at Rennes.