'Following closely' - Fabrizio Romano's Newcastle United transfer update

As the January transfer window edges closer many football fans will once again turn their attention to the insights of transfer guru Fabrizio Romano. The Italian journalist is often one of the first to many transfer stories and his latest comments make interesting reading for Newcastle United fans as the club aims to bolster their squad amid a mountain of injury problems.

Genoa defender Radu Dragusin has dominated the headlines in recent weeks and he is believed to be a target of both Arsenal and Tottenham in the Premier League. However, despite these rumours Romano remains adamant that Newcastle are the team leading the race for his services.

Romano told Kick Streaming: “Dragusin is one of the most talented centre backs in Italian football and Newcastle scouts really appreciate him. His agent spoke about the opportunity to go to the Premier League, he mentioned many clubs.

“For those that don’t know him, he’s the centre back of Genoa, one of the most talented centre backs in Serie A, he’s doing very well. From what I’m hearing, the club that is really following him closely is Newcastle. Newcastle really appreciate the player, Newcastle are following him, Newcastle scouts have been in attendance multiple times this season to follow Radu Dragusin and Genoa.

“To sign a player is something different, at the moment I’m not aware of any negotiation with Newcastle or any other club but Radu Dragusin is going to be one to watch for sure in 2024, because Genoa are expected to extend his contract but the extension is going to be moved towards sell him, potentially in the summer.

Newcastle’s current centre back options include Jamaal Lascelles, Fabian Schar, Paul Dummett and Sven Botman, once he returns from injury. The club also have injured left back Dan Burn as a versatile central option, although he too is injured until at least January. Other than Botman, Newcastle’s current centre back options are all over the age of 30 and it is suspected that Eddie Howe wants to add a younger footballer to his backline.

Who is Radu Dragusin?

Radu Dragusin is a highly rated defender, who emerged through the academy of Italian giants Juventus when he was just 18-years-old. He was introduced into the first team set up after impressing former manager Andrea Pirlo in training and was later sent out on loan to fellow Italian sides Sampdoria and Genoa. Dragusin was a key part of the Genoa team which won automatic promotion from Serie B last season and he played in all 38 of his team’s games, whilst contributing four goals.

Genoa conceded just 28 goals throughout the entirety of last season and the form of Dragusin prompted Genoa to sign him on a permanent deal in the summer. He his highly regarded in Romania and has already made 13 caps for the national team at 21-years of age.  Goal.com have previously referred to the defender as the ‘Romanian Virgil Van Dijk’ due to his impressive strength and awareness and he is expected to grow into a real star over the next few seasons. He has made 13 appearances for a Genoa side that are 15th in the table this season and in that period he has scored one goal and provided one assist. 

Dragusin is expected to be a key player for his national team in next summer’s European Championship in Germany. He helped his country through qualification with a string of impressive performances as they topped Group I ahead of Switzerland and Israel with six victories and four draws, conceding just five goals in the process.