Radu Dragusin reveals his plans for ‘new chapter’ after long-awaited Tottenham return

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Radu Dragusin has admitted that the adrenaline was flowing through his veins at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last week in what was his first start for the club in over a year.

The Tottenham Hotspur defender was out of action for nearly 12 months with an ACL injury.

Dragusin has already described the last year as the most challenging time of his life, and the centre-back finally made his first start against Man City last weekend.

With Micky van de Ven and Kevin Danso out injured, Thomas Frank turned to the Romanian, who was tasked with facing up to the most potent attacking team in the Premier League.

Radu Dragusin admits ‘crazy’ feeling on his first Tottenham start of the season

The centre-back went through a rollercoaster of emotions across those 90 minutes, with City’s opener through Rayan Cherki deflecting off his foot into the back of the net as he attempted to block it.

The Romanian was also part of a tremendous Tottenham comeback in the second period after the home side looked dead and buried at the interval.

Speaking about his first start of the season, Dragusin told the club’s official website: “It’s special. I was actually thinking, my last start when I got injured was over a year ago, which, for me, is just crazy to think about it. All this time just passed by, and a year later, I’m back on the pitch, starting for Spurs.

“I was just so happy, I was enjoying every second of it. Obviously, in the end, we got the point, which was the most important thing after a difficult first half. We really showed our character, our mentality, we never stopped. We went into the second half, just thinking, ‘we can do it, we can come back and even win it’. Like I said, we just showed our character and mentality, I’m really happy with it.”

Dragusin is excited for the start of a ‘new chapter’

The Spurs defender was heavily linked with a return to Serie A in January, but he stayed put at N17 and contributed to the side salvaging a point last weekend.

Dragusin confessed that he missed the feeling of being out on the pitch and admitted that it feels like the start of a new chapter after being on the treatment table for so long.

The 24-year-old added: “I miss this feeling. It’s been a long journey, and I think that was the best way, you know, to end this journey of recovering and being fully back and helping the team in every way I can.

“Yeah, a new chapter has begun for me, obviously. Like I say, I learned a lot from last year – and I’d really like to thank everyone who supported me in the last year. I’m really grateful for all the messages and support I received during this time. Now, I want to progress, learn even more and achieve amazing things with this team.”