Talkative agents are always entertaining when they’re saying what you want them to, and slightly irritating when they’re not.
Florin Manea is a great example of that.
When Radu Dragusin was moving to Tottenham Hotspur, there were lots of nice things said about Spurs and their pursuit, and also why the defender had chosen them over Bayern Munich.
That continued for a while and was always positive, with claims Dragusin chose Tottenham for the money repeatedly denied. Sure, there were suggestions that Spurs could be a stepping stone to greater things, but that was largely forgiven and put down to excitement.
However, since his Genoa exit, the defender has only picked up 229 Premier League minutes, and Ange Postecoglou hasn’t had him on the pitch since March.
There’s clearly some frustration building around the 22-year-old, and his agent has pointed out Spurs’ defence isn’t doing great generally.
Quoted by CalcioNapoli24, Manea, as you will not be surprised, had a lot to say.
“He must have patience, he has two important players in front of him, in the end he will find space,” the agent started off with. “The coach has said many times that he doesn’t want to play three (at the back), he knows better, but he concedes a lot of goals for Tottenham.
“Playing with three gives you more security that you won’t concede too many goals. Tottenham concede a lot of goals from set pieces, I think Dragusin will find space in the future because Tottenham need his power.”
Manea was then asked about his client potentially returning to Italy, to which he said: “If he doesn’t play we’ll have to think of other solutions, but at the moment I don’t think so because he only arrived in January. Then you never know in life, let’s hope not, but you never know.”
When pushed on whether a move to Napoli was on the cards in the last winter market, the agent said if it hadn’t been for interest from Tottenham and Bayern Munich then that move would have been a possibility.
Pressed again, and asked whether the arrival of Antonio Conte at Napoli could be a temptation for Dragusin this summer, Manea played along: “Conte is one of the best in the world, it would be an honour to work with him, but right now it’s difficult to say what will happen. If a loan offer arrived from Napoli, with Conte there, it would have to be evaluated. When you work with someone like Antonio Conte, you learn on many levels.”
To wrap things up, and again push for comments about a transfer, Manea was asked what would happen if, in the summer, Postecoglou told the defender that he’d again be ‘an alternative to the centre-backs’ next season… and he said: “If he told him that, I don’t think Dragusin would stay and not play.”
Radu Dragusin wasn’t expected to walk into the Tottenham team and it would be no surprise if these comments cause some annoyance at the club, especially with the agent handing out tactical advice to Postecoglou in the process of suggesting his client will leave if different decisions aren’t made.
