The £26m signing that would kick off Tottenham's January transfer window in style

For most people, the first day of January means a painful hangover and a few moments of tearful resignation spent staring at a new and unwanted gym membership card. For the manager of a team with an injury crisis, however, it brings sweet relief. Ange Postecoglou was probably on the phone before the rest of us had gotten through the first verse of Auld Lang Syne.

Tottenham Hotspur have a couple of problem positions, but centre-back is the most glaring issue. Micky van de Ven hasn’t played since the start of November thanks to a serious hamstring injury and Cristian Romero, who has missed several games through suspension, is now sidelined by a muscular problem of his own for at least a month. For the 3-1 win over Bournemouth, Postecoglou was forced to line up with two full-backs, Ben Davies and Emerson Royal, in the middle, which is both a testament to the bareness of the cupboards and a deeply personal insult in the direction of Eric Dier.

Spurs have, as such, been linked with a number of central defenders in the last few weeks, but over the past day or so. Rumours have swirled claiming the club have already agreed personal terms with Romanian centre-half Radu Drăguşin, who plays his club football in Genoa – and if the two sides can settle on a fee over the coming days, Spurs could well be the first Premier League club to get a major incoming transfer over the line. But who is Drăguşin, how does he play, and would he be a good piece of business for Postecoglou’s team?

Born in Bucharest but snapped up by Juventus when he was just 16 years old, the now 21-year-old only made one appearance for the Old Lady but did well enough on loan moves at Salernitana and Sampdoria to earn a move to Genoa, signing permanently for an initial €5.5m (£4.8m) a year ago and promptly helping them to earn promotion from Serie B. He’s also picked up 13 caps for the Romanian national team along the way, and has established himself as one of the most promising defenders in the Italian top flight this year.

His physicality has been hugely impactful in his early career – he’s 6’3” and powerfully built, and looks to mark his opposing numbers tightly in order to leverage his strength and muscle them out of one-on-one situations. His aerial duel success rate is impressive and he’s brilliant at using his frame to force himself goal-side of attackers to make clearances and bully strikers out of the path of dangerous passes. Drăguşin himself has previously described Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk as his role model, and in terms of his size and the assured way in which he uses it, you can see that he’s picked up a few tips from watching the Dutchman’s tape.

Because he plays to set up one-on-one physical duels, a lot of his raw numbers don’t look too hot – he doesn’t make very many tackles or interceptions at all, for instance, because he’s not looking to cut passes out and tries to prevent opponents from getting to the ball in the first place rather than trying to stand off and win the ball afterwards. When he is forced to make tackles, his success rate is very good, too, and his judgement of when to lunge in and when to stand up and block an angle seems very solid for such a young defender.

He isn’t an especially technical player and unlike many modern ball-playing centre-halves, he doesn’t look to carry the ball out from the back after winning it – instead he’s rather more agricultural and looks to clear the ball quickly away from danger. Postecoglou, who likes his defenders to be a part of the build up and shuttle the ball quickly to midfield, may want to try and change his habits in that regard.

Luckily, Drăguşin does seem to have some of the raw materials required to fit into the Australian’s system. He might not look to dribble the ball and he doesn’t have an expansive passing range by any means, but his short passing game is rock solid and he does look for chances to sprint into midfield off the ball when Genoa counter-attack, and gets into advanced positions plenty without getting a nosebleed. He’s unlikely to offer a massive attacking output, but can probably still do the job Postecoglou wants his defenders to do – even if there may well be a period of adjustment as he gets used to a tactical scheme which asks him to avoid hacking the ball clear when under pressure.

Another string to his bow is that he’s a genuine threat from set pieces, and he’s already hit the back of the net twice in Serie A this season. In a side which isn’t especially tall or strong in many positions, he could provide a pretty good forehead for James Maddison to target with his dead balls once the midfielder returns himself.

At just 21, Drăguşin is, naturally, still a developmental prospect in many ways, and his habit of trying to get close to his man can mean that he leaves space for other forwards plying the channels or making deep runs. He has enough experience under his belt for him not to be described as being a project, but he would likely be a player for the future at least as much as he is a short-term stand-in for Van de Ven and Romero. Postecoglou must believe that he can sand off the remaining rough edges and mould the Romanian into a more complete defender who can use the ball more efficiently and make fewer positional errors at the back.

The big question mark now is whether Spurs can get the deal over the line. Reports suggest they and Genoa remain some way apart in negotiations, with the Italian side looking for a fee of around €30m (£26m) while Spurs are hoping not to spend more than €25m (£21.7m). Daniel Levy is a famously stringent negotiator, and it remains to be seen whether the urgency of the need for a new centre-back forces him to conclude a deal before he’s whittled every last penny down as he typically prefers.

Drăguşin probably isn’t the kind of defender who will instantly tighten the Spurs defence on his own, but he has the capacity to bully strikers and has the raw skillset to develop into a fantastic player in the not-too-distant future. Assuming Levy is convinced the price is right, this is one they should try to get over the line before those New Year’s Eve hangovers have cleared.