Radu Drăguşin is back in Serie A. Fiorentina have taken the Tottenham defender on loan for 2026-27, with an obligation to buy if performance conditions are met. It is a straightforward transfer on paper, but the bigger story is the reset after a disrupted spell in north London, a £25m move from Genoa in January 2024 and a knee injury that derailed his progress.
Tottenham spell and injury setback
The numbers show how much of that spell was interrupted. Drăguşin made 48 appearances for Tottenham before this loan move, which is a meaningful run for a player who had only just arrived from Genoa on a six-and-a-half-year deal. Then came the injury problem. BBC said he only featured 11 times last season after a serious knee injury in February 2025, while football-italia.net reported that he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee in January 2025 and was sidelined for practically a whole year.
That disagreement on the month does not change the basic point. His second season at Spurs was heavily broken up, and the move to Florence gives him a clean way back into regular football.
Fiorentina's deal structure
The Italian side have not just taken him on a simple loan. The deal includes a loan fee of €1.5m and an obligation to buy for €17.5m if specific performance-based criteria are met. The trigger is Drăguşin's 22nd appearance, so the permanent move is tied to availability and use, not just paperwork.
That structure fits the sense of caution around the move. Fiorentina are getting a defender with top-level experience, but they are also protecting themselves if fitness or form interrupts the season again. Drăguşin, for his part, sounds ready for the switch. Speaking to football-italia.net, he said: "I feel really good, I am so happy to be here and can't wait to get started with the lads on the pitch". He also said Tottenham helped him "grow a great deal" and mature through tough duels with opposition strikers.
There is a more practical side too. He said he had been to Florence several times as a tourist when he played for Genoa, and he already knows Albert Gudmundsson, Fagioli, Kean and Ranieri. That kind of familiarity does not decide a transfer, but it does make a settling-in period easier.
For Tottenham, this looks like part of a broader reset after a difficult season, with the club finishing 17th on 41 points. For Fiorentina, it is a chance to add a defender who has already had a substantial Premier League run and still only has one clear target in front of him: get to 22 appearances and turn the loan into a permanent move.
Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →