Tottenham Hotspur need not worry about Radu Dragusin affecting the balance of homegrown and international players registered in their squad, as the centre-half can technically be registered as an Under-21 player this season.
After a long drawn-out negotiation process, which almost saw Bayern Munich snatch Radu Dragusin from under Tottenham’s noses, the Romanian defender is now on the verge of completing his move from Genoa.
Dragusin carried out his medical assessment at Hotspur Way on Wednesday evening (Tribal Football) and according to Fabrizio Romano, the final documents are all sealed and ready to go, with an official announcement impending.
Tottenham will be hoping to get Dragusin registered with the Premier League ahead of Friday’s midday deadline, in order to have him available for the upcoming game against Manchester United on Sunday.
Radu Dragusin counts as an Under-21 player
And, as part of that registration process, Spurs can actually take advantage of a little loophole that will protect them from the league’s homegrown quota rules.
In a report from Football.London, it is revealed that, as Dragusin was 20 years old at the start of the season, he can be classed as an Under-21 player for the remainder of the campaign.
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At the end of the January transfer window, Spurs will need to submit a 25-man squad for the second half of the season. Rules stipulate any Premier League club cannot name more than 17 non-homegrown players in that squad.
With Timo Werner‘s arrival and Sergio Reguilon back from a loan spell at Manchester United, Spurs are currently one over that limit of 17, but Dragusin’s age allows the club to avoid making that figure any higher.
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Obviously, by the time we get to the summer, we will hopefully have managed to offload even more deadwood and the ratio of homegrown to non-homegrown first-team players should improve. For now, this little sidestep of the rules works perfectly for Spurs.
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