Cristian Romero has decided whether he would consider a bombshell move from Tottenham Hotspur to rivals Arsenal this summer, according to a Gunners insider.
Romero is expected to be sold by Tottenham this summer to help fund Roberto De Zerbi’s ongoing rebuild in N17. The centre-back has been given a price tag of £34-38million amid interest from European giants Inter Milan, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
Italian journalist Alfredo Pedulla was the first to reveal that Arsenal are considering shock talks for Romero, and Fabrizio Romano subsequently confirmed their interest.
Romano said on Friday: “On Cuti Romero. I expect Arsenal to sign a centre-back. So, for sure, Arsenal are looking at centre-backs on the market.
“Then, this could be probably one of the next priorities, we will see also about the winger of course, and then Bruno Guimaraes official.
“Arsenal spoke to the agents of Cuti Romero. Arsenal asked for information on Cuti Romero.
“The relationship, Arsenal [and] Tottenham, is obviously a complicated relationship.
“[It is] way easier for Tottenham to give the green light to Atletico Madrid.
“My understanding is that the clear favourites to sign Cuti Romero now are Atletico Madrid.”
As per trusted Arsenal source Hand of Arsenal, who has 398,000 followers on X/Twitter, Romero is a potential centre-half target for Mikel Arteta’s side after they announced the capture of Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle United.
The post claims Romero ‘was / is VERY open to joining’ Arsenal, despite his strong ties with Spurs. Such a transfer would cause uproar among Spurs supporters.
However, Spurs would likely demand far more from Arsenal for the Argentine than his other suitors, given the fact they are fierce rivals.
Arsenal surprisingly involved in Cristian Romero race
We revealed on Thursday that Atleti have begun the process of hijacking Inter’s move for Romero by agreeing personal terms with him.
Inter have not been able to agree such terms, while talks are also being slowed by the fact they need to sell Benjamin Pavard first.
Romano has revealed that Barca still have time to enter the race for the 28-year-old as Atleti have not yet closed the deal.
Barca have offloaded Ronald Araujo to Liverpool, potentially making room for Romero in their squad.
The chase for Romero is clearly still very much open. While he is happy to join Arsenal, it would be a huge surprise if such a transfer actually went ahead.