Tottenham have completed the signing of centre-back Radu Dragusin from Genoa in a move which has paved the way for Eric Dier to join Bayern Munich.
Romania international Dragusin has put pen to paper on a six-and-a-half-year deal at Spurs and is the club’s second addition of the January transfer window after Timo Werner’s arrival on loan on Tuesday.
A centre-back was always Ange Postecoglou’s number-one priority this month and Tottenham have secured the services of Dragusin in a deal that could rise to £25million, the PA news agency understands.
The 21-year-old has signed in time so that he could make his debut at Manchester United on Sunday and marks another shift in tactic by the club from their previously adopted transfer strategy.
Spurs have notoriously waited until the end of January to complete their winter business, signing both Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur on the final day of the window in 2022 and securing the services of Pedro Porro with minutes to spare last year.
Postecoglou publicly made clear his desire to sign another centre-back and to crucially bring in recruits early to enable them to get up to speed with his style of football as quickly as possible.
The Australian has got his wish, with Dragusin fitting the profile of player Tottenham are tracking under his stewardship.
Dragusin progressed through Juventus’ academy and made his debut as a substitute in December 2020, coming on against Dynamo Kyiv before being introduced for his Serie A bow in the same month away to Genoa with future team-mates Kulusevski and Bentancur on the pitch at the same time.
The following campaign brought loan spells with Sampdoria and Salernitana in Italy’s top flight, but it was a season-long loan at Genoa in 2022 which kickstarted his upward trajectory.
Dragusin starred for Genoa in their promotion back to Serie A, playing 38 times and scoring four goals before he made the move permanent in July.
Dragusin continued his excellent form but, after 22 appearances this term, he will now ply his trade in England.
Tottenham stepped up their pursuit of the centre-back last week, but had to battle late interest from Bayern Munich on Tuesday after they had finally reached an agreement with Genoa before Dragusin decided to move to the Premier League club on Wednesday.
He will provide much-needed depth in central defence alongside vice-captain Cristian Romero, summer recruit Micky van de Ven and Ben Davies.
Djed Spence, meanwhile, has headed in the other direction on loan for the rest of the season and Dragusin’s arrival has contributed to Dier’s exit.
Bayern registered an interest in Dier last week and, while they made a late bid to sign Dragusin, Spurs beating them to the Romanian’s signature resulted in Thomas Tuchel’s side being forced to pursue other targets.
Bundesliga champions Bayern pressed forward with plans to sign Dier and he completed a dream move to Germany on Thursday on an initial six-month deal, which can be extended by a further year.
Dier’s transfer to Bayern will boost his faint hopes of forcing his way back into Gareth Southgate’s England squad and allow him to link up with former team-mate Harry Kane, who completed a £100m switch to Munich in August.
Centre-back Dier leaves Tottenham after 10 seasons in north London and 365 appearances, having helped the club reach two League Cup finals and the Champions League final in 2019.
“This move is a dream come true for me, because as a child you want to play for a club like Bayern one day,” Dier told the official club website.
“Bayern is one of the biggest clubs in the world and has an incredible history. I want to help the team with my versatility in defence.
“I’m really looking forward to my new team-mates and the fans at the Allianz Arena, which in my eyes is one of the best stadiums in the world.”
Dyche demands 'maximum effort' as the minimum requirement from Everton
Sean Dyche is demanding maximum effort as the minimum requirement from Everton when they host already relegated Sheffield United this weekend.
Despite another nervy season at Goodison Park, during which they were deducted six points following a breach of Profitability and Sustainability Rules, the Toffees have secured their top-flight status for another year at least.
Everton are enjoying a strong end to the campaign with last weekend's 1-1 draw at Luton Town extending their unbeaten run to four matches, and Dyche is not expecting his players to rest on their laurels.
"I want us to perform and at least give everything, as we did at Luton," he said.
"You can’t always guarantee you are brilliant. But you can guarantee you give everything, and that was on show again this past weekend.
"The minimum requirement is maximum effort. It hasn’t changed, we want to take that into Goodison and hope we play a little bit better with the ball, and hopefully score some more goals."
Dyche also saluted the impact of the younger members of his squad, with eight players aged 25 or under appearing 10 or more times during a testing season.
"There are a lot of challenges for these players," he added. "But they are beginning to come together as a group, and we have seen that. It has rewarded us, of course, and the fans."
However, their opponents' focus is already on next season, with their immediate return to the Championship confirmed.
In an English top-flight campaign of 38 games or less, only Darwen (112 in 1891-92) and Leicester City (102 in 1908-09) have conceded more goals than the Blades (100).
Chris Wilder knows there is plenty of work to do in United's quest to bounce straight back into the Premier League, but believes the close season will allow him the opportunity to get them in the best shape possible.
"I'll have time to put my own stamp on it," he said. "I'll have time to sign players that I know are going to be good and have a strong enough mentality to do it.
“Defensively and from set-plays and everything else, there's an incredible amount of work to do. We can't do that at the moment because it's difficult, but we will do it, and we'll get it right in terms of those aspects of the game."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Everton – Jordan Pickford
The Everton goalkeeper has kept 12 clean sheets in the Premier League this season – including one in each of the Toffees’ last four home games – with only Arsenal’s David Raya recording more (15)
It is Pickford’s second-highest tally of shutouts in a single campaign after 2018-19 (14).
Sheffield United – Ben Brereton
Despite only joining the club in January, the Chile international has scored the most Premier League goals for the Blades this season (six).
Brereton’s rate of a goal every 158 in the second-best by a United player in a single campaign (minimum 500 minutes) after Nathan Blake in 1993-94 (a goal every 145 minutes).
MATCH PREDICTION: EVERTON
Everton have responded to their 6-0 defeat at Chelsea last month by embarking on a four-match unbeaten streak (winning three, drawing one).
By contrast, United have lost each of their last five games, and are only the second side in Premier League history to concede 100 or more goals during a single campaign after Swindon Town in 1993-94.
While the Toffees have lost their final home league match in just one of the last eight seasons (winning six, drawing one), the Blades have lost their final away game in each of their last four Premier League campaigns.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Everton: 54.1%
Sheffield United: 19.3%
Draw: 26.6%
Tuchel and Bayern fume at 'absolute disaster' after contentious offside call
Thomas Tuchel and Bayern Munich were left fuming after Matthijs de Ligt's contentious late strike was disallowed in their semi-final defeat to Real Madrid.
Bayern crashed out 4-3 on aggregate at Santiago Bernabeu after a dramatic double from substitute Joselu saw the hosts snatch victory to advance to the final on June 1.
Tuchel's side thought they had forced extra-time when De Ligt had the ball in the net, but the referee had already blown his whistle after the linesman raised his flag, so VAR could not intervene.
The replays showed that the original decision was closer than first thought, and the head coach bemoaned the lack of consistency after Madrid's second goal was awarded following a VAR review.
"I think it's pretty clear and there is no doubt that is against the rules of modern football," he said. "A disaster. An absolute disaster.
"With Real's second goal, they let the play continue. The clear rule is that the scene must continue. The first mistake was made by the linesman, the second by the referee."
Bayern had taken the lead through Alphonso Davies at the midway point in the second half, before Joselu's late intervention denied them a crack at a seventh title against compatriots Borussia Dortmund at Wembley.
De Ligt said the linesman had apologised to him after the game.
"[It is] very difficult. Of course, as sportspeople, we accept it," Tuchel said. "But it is a semi-final, it's not for two such mistakes.
"Everyone has to be at their limit. The referees have to be there as well. That is what we expect, so the apology does not really help."
Super sub Joselu 'the perfect reflection of Madrid', hails Ancelotti after Bayern brace
Carlo Ancelotti saluted Joselu after the striker climbed off the bench and scored twice against Bayern Munich to send Real Madrid through to their 18th Champions League final.
Following Alphonso Davies' earlier strike at Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid trailed Bayern 1-0 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate when Joselu replaced Federico Valverde with nine minutes of their pulsating semi-final tie remaining.
The 33-year-old, who is on loan from second-tier Espanyol, turned the tie on its head with two dramatic late goals.
First, he pounced on a rare mistake by Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer to stab in an 88th-minute equaliser, before volleying home Antonio Rudiger's cross in the first minute of stoppage time.
This was Joselu's eighth substitute appearance in this season's Champions League and Ancelotti praised the professionalism of his striker, who has now netted 17 times across all competitions, despite spending much of the campaign on the bench.
"He's a player who's contributed a lot this season, even if he hasn't played many minutes," the Italian said.
"But he's the perfect reflection of what this squad is: players who contribute a lot without losing confidence [if they're not playing] and the idea that they can offer the team something."
Ancelotti, whose side will play Borussia Dortmund in his sixth Champions League final as a manager on June 1, also hailed the character demonstrated by his players during another "magical" Madrid performance.
"It's happened so many times now, it's something inexplicable," he added. "It's happened again [thanks to] fans that push [us], a fantastic atmosphere and players who never stop believing that they can do it. It's something magical, there's no explanation for it."
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