Radu Matei Drăgușin (; born 3 February 2002) is a Romanian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a defender for

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

and the Romania national team. Mainly a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, he can also play as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. Drăgușin started out his senior career with the reserves of Italian club

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

in 2020, and later that year registered his debut for the first team, aged 18. Following loans to

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...

Salernitana Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919 is an Italian professional football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recently in 2011. The current ...

, and

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, respectively, he signed a permanent contract with the latter in 2023. The next January, he joined English side Tottenham Hotspur in a transfer worth an initial €25 million (£21.5 million), making him the most expensive Romanian footballer of all time. Internationally, Drăgușin made his full debut for Romania in a 1–0 friendly loss to

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

in March 2022. He competed for his country in the

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

, achieving first place in their

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and advancing to the

round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

Early life

Drăgușin was born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

to Svetlana () and Dan Drăgușin, former Romanian internationals in basketball and volleyball, respectively. He has a younger sister named Meira, who also plays basketball.

Club career

Early career

Drăgușin was persuaded to play football by his cousin, and joined the youth squads of Sportul Studențesc at the age of seven. He played at the club for four years before its dissolution, and then moved to Regal Sport București where he was teammates with Octavian Popescu and Luca Florică among others.

Juventus

In 2018, with interest from Chelsea,

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

and

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

, Drăgușin transferred to Italian club

for a fee of €260,000. Initially assigned as an under-17 player, he quickly moved to the under-19 team. On 25 January 2020, midway through the 2019–20 Serie C season, Drăgușin made his debut for

Juventus U23 Juventus Next Gen (), also known as Juve Next Gen or Juve NG, is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, which acts as the reserve team of club Juventus. They compete in , and play their home games at the Stadio La Marm ...

against Pro Patria by coming on as a 36th-minute substitute for

Raffaele Alcibiade Raffaele Alcibiade (born 23 May 1990) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Pro Patria. Club career Juventus Alcibiade began his career with Italian and European powerhouse Juventus. He started out in youth r ...

. On 8 November, he was called up to the senior squad by

Andrea Pirlo Andrea Pirlo (; born 19 May 1979) is an Italian association football, football manager (association football), manager and former professional player. Considered one of the greatest Midfielder (association football)#Deep-lying playmaker, mi ...

for a

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

fixture against

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

. He made his club and

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

debut on 2 December, appearing as a substitute in a 3–0 home victory over

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

group stage. Drăgușin's league debut was made 11 days later, being brought on in the 90th minute for

Matthijs de Ligt Matthijs de Ligt (born 12 August 1999) is a Dutch professional association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Manchester United F.C., Manchester United and the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands ...

in a 3–1 away win over

. On 13 January 2021, Drăgușin started his first match in the

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

, as his side defeated Genoa 3–2

after extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a Tie (draw), tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is ...

. His first career goal came for the under-23s on 13 February 2021, in a 3–0 away defeat of AlbinoLeffe. In April, Drăgușin's performances earned him a four-year contract extension at Juventus.

Loans to Sampdoria and Salernitana

On 31 August 2021, Drăgușin was sent out on loan to fellow Serie A club

for one season. He recorded his debut on 22 October, in a 2–1 league win over

Spezia La Spezia (, or ; ; , in the local ) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second-largest city in the Liguri ...

in which he replaced injured

Valerio Verre Valerio Verre (born 11 January 1994) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Palermo. Club career Roma, Genoa & Siena As a graduate of the reserve team, Verre signed a five-year contract in May 2012 ...

in the 19th minute. Five days later, he played the full 90 minutes in a 1–3 loss to

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

. On 31 January 2022, after his loan at Sampdoria was prematurely interrupted, Drăgușin moved to

on loan for the remainder of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

. He made his debut for them on 7 February, starting in a 2–2 draw to Spezia.

Genoa

On 14 July 2022, Drăgușin was loaned out to

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

side Genoa with an option to buy. On 25 January 2023, his agent announced that the permanent transfer clause had been triggered after he met several objectives, with the fee being around €5.5 million plus €1.8 million in conditional bonuses. He amassed 40 appearances and four goals in all competitions during the 2022–23 season, as Genoa finished second in the league and earned direct promotion to the Serie A. Drăgușin scored his first goal in the latter competition on 10 November 2023, in a 1–0 home win over

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Hellas Verona (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Verona, Veneto, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won ...

. On 21 December, he was unveiled as the winner of the 2023

Romanian Footballer of the Year The Romanian Footballer of the Year (), also known as the Nicolae Dobrin Trophy (), is an annual association football award given by the ''Gazeta Sporturilor'' newspaper to the Romanian player adjudged to have been the best during a calendar yea ...

award by the ''

Gazeta Sporturilor Gazeta Sporturilor () is a Romanian sports website, originally founded in 1924 as a daily newspaper. It was the third-oldest daily newspaper in Europe, with 99 years of uninterrupted publication, before issuing its last edition on 31 October 2023. ...

'' newspaper. Eight days later, he equalised by netting a header in a 1–1 home draw against

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

Tottenham Hotspur

On 11 January 2024, amid reports of transfer offers from

and

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

, Drăgușin joined the former by signing a contract until June 2030. The guaranteed €25 million (£21.5 million) transfer fee turned him into the most expensive Romanian footballer, surpassing the €22.5m (£15.8m) record fee for

Adrian Mutu Adrian Mutu (; born 8 January 1979) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player. During his playing career, he was deployed as a forward or an attacking midfielder. Mutu started his career playing two years for Argeș Pite� ...

's transfer from Verona to Chelsea in 2003. Genoa could also receive another €5 million (£4.3 million) in add-ons. Drăgușin made his

debut on 14 January, coming on as an 85th-minute substitute for Oliver Skipp in a 2–2 draw against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. He made his first start for Tottenham in a 3–0 away loss to

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

on 16 March. On 26 September 2024, Drăgușin was sent off seven minutes into his

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

debut, a 3–0 win over Qarabağ in the opening fixture of the

league phase League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

. On 30 January 2025, he suffered an ACL injury in his right knee during a Europa League match against

Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Allsvenskan and have spent ...

International career

Youth

Drăgușin was selected by manager Adrian Mutu for the

2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2021) was the 23rd edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (26th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth Association ...

, having previously made two appearances for

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

in the qualifiers. He only featured once in the final tournament, as he replaced injured

Alex Pașcanu Alexandru Ștefan Pașcanu (born 28 September 1998) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Liga I club Rapid București and the Romania national team. Early life Pașcanu grew up in Bogdănești, Vaslui County, befo ...

in the 63rd minute of a goalless draw with

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Senior

Drăgușin was called up to the Romania senior team for the first time in March 2022, making his debut on 25 March by coming on in the 88th minute of a 0–1 friendly loss to

. The following year, he started in all ten matches of the

Euro 2024 qualifiers The UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2023 to March 2024 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams that would join the automatically qualified host team Germany in the UEFA Eur ...

, helping his nation top Group I with a single defeat by Belgium. Later, they got knocked out of the Euros by the Netherlands in a 3–0 defeat. On 7 June 2024, Drăgușin was named in Romania's squad for

Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by U ...

. He started in all four matches of the tournament, forming a defensive partnership with

Andrei Burcă Andrei Andonie Burcă (; born 15 April 1993) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays for Chinese Super League club Yunnan Yukun and the Romania national team. Mainly a centre-back, he can also be deployed as a left-back. Burcă began h ...

, as the nation won its group but was eliminated by the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in the

. Drăgușin scored his first senior international goal for Romania on 12 October 2024, in a 3–0 away defeat of

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

counting for the 2024–25 edition of the Nations League.

Style of play

A tall and physical

, Drăgușin has cited

Virgil van Dijk Virgil van Dijk (; born 8 July 1991) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captains both club Liverpool and the Netherlands national team. Widely regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation and ...

as a point of reference, with whom he has since been compared for his confidence in possession and positional sense. Drăgușin has also played as a

on occasion.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Drăgușin goal.''

Honours

Juventus U23 *

Coppa Italia Serie C Coppa Italia Serie C (), formerly named Coppa Italia Lega Pro, is a straight knock-out based competition involving teams from Serie C in Italian football first held in 1972. Format There are a total of six rounds in the competition. It begins i ...

: 2019–20 Juventus *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Tottenham Hotspur *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

: 2024–25 Individual *''

: 2023; runner-up: 2024

References

External links

Profile
at the Tottenham Hotspur F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dragusin, Radu 2002 births Living people Footballers from Bucharest Romanian men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Juventus FC players Juventus Next Gen players UC Sampdoria players US Salernitana 1919 players Genoa CFC players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Serie C players Serie B players Serie A players Premier League players UEFA Europa League–winning players Romania men's youth international footballers Romania men's under-21 international footballers Romania men's international footballers Romanian expatriate men's footballers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Romanian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in England UEFA Euro 2024 players 21st-century Romanian sportsmen