European giants consider stunning deal to re-sign Tottenham squad star with Conte elbowed aside

Juventus are reportedly considering re-signing Tottenham’s Radu Dragusin in the January transfer window – but he is not their top target.

The 22-year-old has largely played second fiddle to Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven at the heart of Tottenham‘s defence since moving from Genoa in January 2024 for £21.5m (€25.5m, $27.8m).

Dragusin has made just 15 appearances for Spurs, with the Romania international limited to a paltry five Premier League starts so far.

The 6ft 3in defender, who has also been linked with Napoli, is less than 12 months into a six-and-a-half-year contract with the north London side and if he does go, he will not go on the cheap.

Now, Gazzetta dello Sport claims Juventus are looking at possibilities to sign their former player, who spent five years at the Serie A giants; without really making a dent on their first-team.

However, the report also states that Paris Saint-Germain centre-back and Slovakia international Milan Skriniar is their first choice pick if the 29-year-old is available.

Whether or not Dragusin heads back to Juve or makes a move in January is up in the air – although fresh comments tend to suggest he may stay put.

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Dragusin exit played down

After Dragusin impressed in Tottenham’s 2-1 Carabao Cup win over Manchester City in midweek, his agent Florin Manea has again played down any talk of an exit from the club in early 2025.

He told Tutto Juve: “He’s coming off a great match against Manchester City, now he’s focused on the rest of the season. He wants to do well with Tottenham. I learn about it from the Italian newspapers, I honestly don’t know anything about it (transfer rumours).

“With Juventus as far as I’m concerned, there have been no contacts. As always, the final say in these cases will be up to the club he belongs to, but the boy is happy here at Tottenham.”

And Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou has also hinted Dragusin is very much part of his plans going forward.

He told reporters on Friday: “Radu’s been with us 10 months now and I think he’s been great. We signed him because we saw some really strong attributes in him in terms of his defending capabilities, his mindset and again a really unique journey that he had to fight hard to get where he wants to. So, he had all those things I look for.

“He is still young and he is working hard every day on his game and all aspects of his game. Defenders you know they tend to get better with age with experience, the good ones, and with him, guys like Micky (van de Ven) and Destiny (Udogie), the reason we signed them at the age they did is we really believe in years to come they’ll get stronger and he is doing that.

“Every time he is out there I think I can see improvements. He is really embracing the way we play. It is very different to where he came from, playing so aggressively with our line and defending one-on-one but he’s embracing that and enjoying that. I thought he was great the other night. Not just in his football but in terms of his presence and demeanour, he took some leadership there.”

Ibrahimovic eyes Spurs star

Senior advisor at AC Milan, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, is reportedly hellbent on bringing fellow Swede and Tottenham star Dejan Kulusevski to the San Siro.

However, the former Juventus striker’s offer is unlikely to be enough to convince Spurs to part company with the winger/attacking midfielder.

Elsewhere, Tottenham are said to be leading the race to sign Irish teen sensation Mason Melia, TEAMtalk can reveal. 

The 17-year-old has been linked with Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea but Spurs are in pole position to land the St Patrick’s Athletic forward.

Finally, the north London outfit are in a strong position to buy Real Betis midfielder Johnny Cardoso, off the back of Giovani Lo Celso heading to the La Liga team this summer.