Radu Drăgușin

Radu Matei Drăgușin (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈradu maˈtej drəguˈʃin]; born 3 February 2002) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays mainly as a centre-back for Serie A club Sampdoria, on loan from Serie A club Juventus, and the Romania national under-21 team.

Radu Drăgușin
Personal information
Full name Radu Matei Drăgușin
Date of birth (2002-02-03) 3 February 2002
Place of birth Bucharest, Romania
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 Sampdoria
(on loan from Juventus)
Number 19
Youth career
2009–2013 Sportul Studențesc
2013–2018 Regal Sport București
2018–2020 Juventus
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020– Juventus U23 12 (1)
2020– Juventus 1 (0)
2021– → Sampdoria (loan) 7 (0)
National team‡
2018–2019 Romania U17 6 (1)
2019 Romania U19 3 (0)
2020– Romania U21 5 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 November 2021
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 November 2021

Early life

Drăgușin was born in Bucharest to Svetlana (née Simion) and Dan Drăgușin, both former Romanian internationals in basketball and volleyball, respectively. He has a younger sister named Meira, who also plays basketball.[1]

Club career

Early career

Drăgușin was persuaded to football by his cousin, and joined the youth squads of Sportul Studențesc at the age of seven.[1] He played at the club for four years before its dissolution, and then moved to Regal Sport București where he was teammates with Octavian Popescu and Luca Florică among others.[2]

Juventus

In 2018, Drăgușin transferred to Italian club Juventus for a fee of €260,000.[1] Initially assigned as an under-17 player, he quickly moved to the under-19 team.[3] On 25 January 2020, midway through the 2019–20 Serie C season, Drăgușin made his debut for Juventus U23 against Pro Patria by coming on as a 36th-minute substitute for Raffaele Alcibiade.[4]

On 8 November, he was called-up to the senior squad by Andrea Pirlo for a Serie A fixture against Lazio.[3] He made his club and European debut on 2 December, appearing as a substitute in a 3–0 home victory over Dynamo Kyiv in the UEFA Champions League group stage.[3] Drăgușin's league debut was made 11 days later, being brought on in the 90th minute for Matthijs de Ligt in a 3–1 away win over Genoa.[5]

On 13 January 2021, Drăgușin started his first match in the Coppa Italia,[6] as his side defeated Genoa 3–2 after extra time.[7] His first career goal came for the under-23s on 13 February 2021, in a 3–0 away defeat of AlbinoLeffe.[8] In April, Drăgușin's performances earned him a four-year contract extension at Juventus.[9]

Loan to Sampdoria

On 31 August 2021, Drăgușin was sent out on loan to fellow-Serie A club Sampdoria for one season.[10] He recorded his debut on 22 October, in a 2–1 league win over Spezia in which he replaced injured Valerio Verre in the 19th minute. Five days later, he played the full 90 minutes in a 1–3 loss to Atalanta.[11]

International career

Drăgușin was selected by manager Adrian Mutu for the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship,[12] having previously made two appearances for Romania in the qualifiers. He only featured once in the final tournament, as he replaced injured Alex Pașcanu in the 63rd-minute of a goalless draw with Germany. His nation finished third in its group and failed to progress.[13]

Style of play

A tall and physical centre-back, Drăgușin has cited Virgil van Dijk as a point of reference.[3] He has also played as a right-back on occasion.[11]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 30 November 2021[4]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Juventus U23 2019–20 Serie C 20——3[lower-alpha 1]050
2020–21 Serie C 81——2[lower-alpha 2]0101
Total 101——50151
Juventus 2020–21 Serie A 10201[lower-alpha 3]00040
Sampdoria (loan) 2021–22 Serie A 7000000070
Career total 181201050261
  1. One appearance in Serie C promotion play-offs, two appearances in Coppa Italia Serie C
  2. Appearance in Serie C promotion play-offs
  3. Appearance in UEFA Champions League

Honours

Juventus U23[4]

Juventus[4]

References
  1. "La 18 ani, Radu Matei Drăgușin și-a făcut debutul la Juventus Torino" [At 18-years-old, Radu Matei Drăgușin made his debut for Juventus Turin]. Click! (in Romanian). 3 December 2020.
  2. Primejdie, Deian (2 May 2018). "Interviu Radu Drăgușin" [Radu Drăgușin interview] (in Romanian). Școala TV. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  3. "Chi è Dragusin, il 2002 che ha esordito in Champions con la Juve" [Who is Drăgușin, the 2002-born who made his Champions League debut with Juve] (in Italian). Sky Sport. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  4. Radu Drăgușin at Soccerway. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  5. "Genoa - Juventus, 1-3, Serie A 2020 giornata 11, La Repubblica". la Repubblica (in Italian). 13 December 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  6. "Juventus-Genoa, le formazioni ufficiali: giocano Dragusin e Wesley | Goal.com" [Juventus - Genoa, the official line-ups: Drăgușin and Wesley play | Goal.com] (in Italian). Goal. 13 January 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  7. Pifferi, Matteo (14 January 2021). "Coppa Italia – La Juventus batte il Genoa ai supplementari: ai quarti Sassuolo o SPAL" [Italian Cup - Juventus beats Genoa in extra time: Sassuolo or SPAL in the quarterfinals] (in Italian). FC Inter 1908.
  8. "La Juventus U23 strapazza l'Albinoleffe: 3-0, in rete anche Dragusin. In campo Ake" [Juventus U23 beat Albinoleffe: 3-0, Drăgușin also scored. Ake on the field] (in Italian). TUTTOmercatoWEB. 13 February 2021. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  9. "Dragusin, è rinnovo!" [Drăgușin is renewed!] (in Italian). Juventus F.C. 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  10. "UFFICIALE Sampdoria, Dragusin in prestito dalla Juventus" [OFFICIAL Sampdoria, Drăgușin on loan from Juventus] (in Italian). TUTTOmercatoWEB. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  11. "Gazzetta Dello Sport, laude pentru români! Radu Drăgușin și Răzvan Marin, cei mai buni în meciurile din Serie A" [Gazzetta Dello Sport, praises for Romanians! Radu Drăgușin and Răzvan Marin, the best in their Serie A matches] (in Romanian). Digi Sport. 28 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021. He shows great personality, even if used in a position [of a right defender] that is not specific of him.
  12. "Adrian Mutu a anunțat lotul României pentru Euro 2021! Ce jucători vor merge în Ungaria și Slovenia" [Adrian Mutu announced Romania's squad for Euro 2021! What players will go to Hungary and Slovenia] (in Romanian). Eurosport România. 14 March 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  13. "Prima reacție a lui Adi Mutu, după eliminarea de la EURO 2021: "Băieții trebuie felicitați". Cum a explicat schimbările" [Adi Mutu's first reaction, after the elimination from EURO 2021: "The boys must be congratulated". How he explained the changes] (in Romanian). Digi Sport. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
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