Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly been told that it will take around £26m to prise Genoa defender Radu Dragusin away from the Serie A outfit in the January transfer window.
Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou has confirmed that a new centre-back is item number one on his winter wishlist, having been forced to work without summer signing Micky van de Ven for a number of weeks.
Van de Ven and Cristian Romero joined forces in a fearsome partnership ahead of Guglielmo Vicario, but the former has been sidelined since sustaining a severe hamstring injury against Chelsea on November 6.
Romero then served a three-game ban on account of receiving a straight red card in that game, and the Argentine's ill discipline has often been highlighted since his arrival in North London from Atalanta BC.
In addition, Ashley Phillips and Eric Dier have also struggled with ankle and groin issues in recent weeks, forcing Ben Davies to swap his preferred left-back position for a central role alongside Romero.
While Dier and Phillips are now fit again, the former will enter the final six months of his contract in January and is not expected to be granted an extension, having fallen out of favour since Postecoglou's arrival.
Furthermore, 18-year-old Phillips is still not deemed ready for regular first-team duties, and according to The Telegraph, the Lilywhites will soon step up their pursuit of Dragusin.
The Romania international spent five years on the books at Juventus, but he only made four senior appearances for the Old Lady and was loaned out on three occasions before being sold permanently to Genoa this summer.
Dragusin had already spent the 2022-23 season on loan with Il Grifone, during which they earned promotion back into the top flight from Serie B, and he has seamlessly adapted to Serie A football.
The 21-year-old has not missed a minute for Genoa this season, recording one goal and one assist from 17 starts so far, and his contract with the newly-promoted outfit runs until the summer of 2027.
Dragusin is supposedly in line for another extension until the end of the 2027-28 season, but Genoa may be resigned to losing the Romanian regardless amid the growing interest in his services.
The defender's agent has already confirmed that both Arsenal and Tottenham are keeping tabs on his client, whom Genoa have supposedly slapped an affordable £27m price tag on.
Such a fee would not prove implausible for Tottenham to fork out in January, and Genoa director Marco Ottolini recently confirmed that his side were yet to receive any bids for Dragusin.
Nice's Jean-Clair Todibo and Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite have also been strongly linked with moves to North London, while Bournemouth's Lloyd Kelly - who is out of contract in 2024 - could be a cut-price option.
In addition to a defensive reinforcement, Spurs could also target a new striker and winger during the mid-season market. body check tags ::
