Agent confirms Newcastle United talks prior to £26m defender move to Premier League rivals

Newcastle United held talks with Romania international Radu Dragusin prior to his £26m move to Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

The 21-year-old centre-back attracted a whole host of admirers in recent months after realising his undoubted potential after making a permanent move to Genoa last summer after initially joining from Juventus on a season-long loan deal 12 months earlier.

Dragusin was reportedly monitored by Newcastle in recent months and was one option under consideration as the Magpies look to strengthen their options at the heart of their defence. Fabian Schar and Sven Botman remain Eddie Howe's first choice partnership and club captain Jamaal Lascelles has provided admirable backup in recent months. However, the former Nottingham Forest centre-back is now in the final six months of his current deal and is attracting interest from Turkish club Besiktas.

Although there was no official confirmation of a move for Dragusin as United focus their attention elsewhere in the January transfer market, the defender's agent has revealed he held talks with the Magpies and several other clubs prior to his move to Spurs.

“I’m sure he’ll (Dragusin) impose himself. I hope he’ll do it quickly, (but) we have to give him time to adjust,” Florin Manea told Romanian outlet Orange Sport. 

“It’s nice to make the most expensive transfer in the history of Romanian football. It’s exciting. That’s why I started this (agency) business, to be able to break records, to talk with big clubs. It’s an honour. I talked with Bayern (Munich) in the last few days. Tottenham, Napoli, Milan, Newcastle… I talked to a bunch of clubs.” 

Newcastle are expected to make moves to boost their defensive ranks during the summer transfer window and have been linked with the likes of Crystal Palace star Joachim Andersen and Sporting CP's highly-rated centre-back Ousmane Diomande in recent weeks.