Devastating blow for Tottenham as Radu Dragusin ruled out for season with ACL tear as Ange Postecoglou hit with more injury misery

The 21-year-old sustained the serious knee injury during Tottenham’s 3-0 victory over Elfsborg in the Europa League last Thursday. Coming on as a substitute at half-time, Dragusin landed awkwardly while trying to clear his lines and in the process damaged his knee.

According to the Standard, medical examinations confirmed that the damage was significant enough to require immediate surgical intervention, ruling him out for the remainder of the campaign. Dragusin's injury adds to Postecoglou’s growing list of defensive casualties, further exposing Tottenham’s vulnerability at the back. Spurs were without a recognised centre-half during their 2-0 victory over Brentford on Sunday, forcing Ben Davies and Archie Gray to fill in as emergency defenders. With Cristian Romero still recovering from a thigh injury and Micky van de Ven only just returning from a long-term hamstring problem, Postecoglou has been left with limited options at the back.

In a desperate attempt to bolster their defensive ranks before the 11 p.m. transfer deadline on Monday, Spurs reportedly made a last-minute bid for Maxime Esteve from Championship side Burnley. However, their £20 million ($25m) offer was swiftly rejected, with the Clarets valuing the defender at a minimum of £30m ($37m). Nonetheless, they did acquire Kevin Danso from Lens for £20.9m ($21m).

There is some hope that Van de Ven will be available to start when Tottenham face Liverpool in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final tie at Anfield on Thursday. Postecoglou’s side remains in contention for silverware in the cup competitions, but a top-four Premier League finish looks like a distant dream as they are currently in 14th place in the standings.