Cristian Romero: Tottenham Captain Set for Atletico Madrid in £34.2m Deal
Atletico Madrid have agreed a £34.2m (€40m) fee with Tottenham to sign defender Cristian Romero, with the Argentina international set to become the Spanish club's fourth signing of the summer (BBC Sport; Sky Sports).
Romero leaves north London after five seasons, having made 156 appearances and scored 13 goals. He first arrived on loan from Atalanta in 2021 before Tottenham made the deal permanent for £42.5m. Just under a year ago, he signed a contract extension running to 2029 (Sky Sports). Now he is on his way to the Spanish capital for less than Spurs paid to keep him.
TalkSPORT reported on 7 August that Romero had agreed personal terms with Atletico, with a fee around £35m (talkSPORT). Inter Milan had also been in the conversation — the Italian outlet Chosun reported on 4 August that they had reached a €40m agreement with Tottenham and were negotiating with the player's agent (Chosun). Atletico won the race.
Arsenal had shown interest in recent days, but Tottenham refused to sell their captain across north London. A deal with any club was always going to be on Spurs' terms — a sell-on clause (a percentage of any future transfer fee paid back to the selling club) of 15 per cent will travel with Romero to Madrid (BBC Sport).
For Atletico, Romero joins a busy window. Midfielders Kang-in Lee and Morten Hjulmand and left-back Alejandro Grimaldo have already arrived, and completing the Romero deal would take their summer spending past £100m. Diego Simeone's side finished fourth in La Liga last season, with Villarreal edging them out of third.
Romero played for Argentina during their run to the World Cup final this summer, missing just one game. He brings 156 appearances of Premier League experience and a World Cup winner's pedigree to a backline that will need both if Atletico are to close the gap at the top of La Liga.
Meanwhile, Tottenham are also in talks to sell full-back Djed Spence. Inter Milan are in advanced discussions over a £25.6m (€30m) deal for the 25-year-old (BBC Sport). Spurs appear to be reshaping their defence in the closing weeks of the window — losing a captain and potentially a full-back in the same summer is the kind of turnover that will test Thomas Frank's start to life at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
For Romero, the move ends a chapter that began with a loan and grew into the armband. For Atletico, it is a statement of intent from a club that finished off the pace last season and is spending heavily to make sure it does not happen again.
