Many have spoken of the pull of Ange Postecoglou in tempting players to join Tottenham Hotspur of late, but in his latest press conference, the Spurs boss has played down the idea and insists he simply had a conversation with Radu Dragusin ahead of his move to the club.
Heading into the January transfer window, Spurs were in desperate need of a new centre-half, and it soon became apparent that Radu Dragusin was the man they had targeted to reinforce the defensive zone.
Despite agreeing personal terms with the 21-year-old early in the month, Spurs‘ pursuit of Dragusin was put under considerable pressure as Bayern Munich also emerged as potential suitors.
Ultimately, Dragusin opted to join Tottenham, and it is thought he made that decision based on the fact he felt the North London club, and their manager, wanted him more (GSP via Sport Witness).
Postecoglou reveals details of Dragusin conversation
So, what did Ange Postecoglou do to persuade Dragusin to join his Tottenham revolution? Well, not a lot, according to Postecoglou, who revealed he simply spoke to the player and explained where he would fit in to the Spurs project.
He told Football.London: “I don’t try to sell anything, it’s just a conversation. It’s just a conversation about what I believe and my thoughts on them as players and where they fit in. Part of the key is that they want to come to this football club. I’m not going to bend their arm.”
Postecoglou added: “We knew that was a priority position for us in the window. We knew that if the right opportunity came up in January we’d move. We did a fair bit of work on it. Once we knew the direction we were going in, Johan and his team did a lot of background work on him. After my chats with him, I could tell how he would fit in.”
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It is already very clear that Postecoglou wants players who are hungry and passionate about playing for him, and if he doesn’t get that feeling from a player when he speaks to them, I’m sure he would rather move on and find someone else. I can’t imagine him pleading with a player to join the club at all, and clearly his matter-of-fact approach is winning people over.