Tottenham defender Dragusin suffers ACL injury

Radu Dragusin joined Tottenham a year ago

Tottenham Hotspur defender Radu Dragusin is set to miss the rest of the season after injuring the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

The 23-year-old suffered the injury during Tottenham's defeat of Elfsborg in the Europa League last week and has to have surgery.

He is expected to be out for at least six months and some ACL injuries can keep players out of action for up to a year.

Tottenham said Dragusin "will be assessed by our medical team to determine when he can return to training".

Dragusin started 21 of Tottenham's past 23 games.

Writing on Instagram, Dragusin said he will work hard during his recovery to "come back stronger".

He added: "Football doesn't just teach you how to win - it teaches you how to fight when things get tough."

The Romania international joins Destiny Udogie, Guglielmo Vicario, James Maddison, Brennan Johnson, Timo Werner, Wilson Odobert, Cristian Romero and Dominic Solanke on the sidelines, while fellow defenders Micky van de Ven and Ben Davies have only recently returned to action.

Dragusin joined Tottenham from Genoa in a £25m deal in January 2024.

On Sunday, Tottenham signed Austria defender Kevin Danso on loan for the rest of the season, with a purchase option worth £21m.

On Monday, they had a £70m offer for England defender Marc Guehi rejected by Crystal Palace, but signed 19-year-old attacker Mathys Tel from Bayern Munich.

Injury woes continue for Postecoglou

The number of absentees continues to grow for manager Ange Postecoglou.

Spurs have suffered 27 separate injuries since the start of the 2024-25 campaign.

Of the 24 Tottenham players to start a Premier League match this season - and not including new arrival Antonin Kinsky - only Pedro Porro, Dejan Kulusevski, Lucas Bergvall, Brandon Austin and Sergio Reguilon have not missed a game through injury.

Of the 37 matches Tottenham have played in all competitions this season, five players have missed over half them, while seven have missed 10 or more.

Forward Wilson Odobert, who had surgery on a hamstring injury in November, has been absent for 30 games, striker Richarlison has missed 24 and centre-back Micky van de Ven has been out for 21 matches.

Sunday's 2-0 victory at Brentford ended a seven-match winless streak in the Premier League, during which Postecoglou had bemoaned his side's bad luck with injuries.

"Every time I've seen the light at the end of the tunnel, it's usually been an oncoming train," he said.