Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has claimed that they made a far more lucrative offer for Radu Dragusin than anyone but the Tottenham defender turned it down.
Despite late efforts from Bayern Munich to sign the Genoa centre-back, Dragusin decided to join Tottenham instead.
The English club reached an agreement with Genoa for a transfer fee of €25 million plus €5 million in add-ons to signed the young centre-half on a six-year contract.
This deal makes the player the most expensive Romanian footballer to date.
However, it has now been revealed that Napoli were also keen on signing him and even made an offer better than anyone else.
This has been confirmed by the club president in a latest interview.
He said (via Area Napoli):
“I had offered him more than anyone. No one had given him the figures that we would have guaranteed him.
“Genoa replied to me, Bayern Munich are also there, but the boy really wants England. It wasn’t a question of money, because it doesn’t always go like this when you try to sign a footballer. If they tell you that the talent you want to hire is seen elsewhere, aspires to certain leagues, you can’t help but stop. We did our bit, but his choice was different. ”
Dragusin’s agent also claimed after the move that the player had better offers from elsewhere but the player wanted a move to England.
The centre-back has yet to earn his first start under Ange Postecoglou. However, it shouldn’t be long before he gets opportunities to feature for the Lilywhites regularly.
He has to compete with the likes of Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven for a spot in the first team, which will not be an easy task given their superb form.
