Tottenham’s Radu Dragusin, who has been out injured for nine months, has been called up by Romania for their critical World Cup qualifiers in November.
Dragusin has not played since damaging cruciate knee ligaments playing for Spurs in a Europa League tie against Elfsborg in January but is getting closer to a return and the timing could work well for Spurs.
Cristian Romero has missed the last two games with a minor thigh injury and is not ready to return against Everton on Sunday.
Micky van de Ven, who suffered terribly with hamstring problems during the previous two seasons, has been playing in almost every game and Ben Davies, who can deputize in central defence, is also injured.
Tottenham’s head coach Thomas Frank would welcome Dragusin’s return to fitness but has been very careful not to rush him back too soon.
The Spurs medics stepped in last month when legendary Romania boss Mircea Lucescu tried to call up Dragusin, saying he hoped to have his influence around the camp even if he was unable to play for more than a minute.
Tottenham star Radu Dragusin, who has been out injured since January, has been called up by his national side
Radu Dragusin Dragusin has not played since damaging cruciate knee ligaments playing for Spurs
They thought it was too soon and 80-year-old Lucescu accepted their decision, but he has named his 23-year-old defensive talisman in his preliminary squad for fixtures against Bosnia-Herzegovina and San Marino.
Victory in Bosnia would give Romania a strong chance of finishing second in Group H behind Austria but any other score would leave them in need of help from Austria, who face Bosnia in their final fixtures.
