Tottenham Hotspur will attempt to offer a contract extension to one of their best players, but he remains intent on departing the club this summer.
The summer transfer window can be both a blessing and a curse. It provides the opportunity to sign new players, while others could be lured away to join other clubs.
Tottenham will be considering their options, but one of their biggest priorities is keeping Cristian Romero at the club. There have been concerns since Atletico Madrid entered the race to sign Romero that he will look to leave Spurs.
More recently, it was suggested Romero would stay at Tottenham if Ange Postecoglou remained in charge. However, with Postecoglou no longer managing Spurs, things are not looking good in relation to the Argentine centre-back.
Daniel Levy wants Cristian Romero to sign a new Tottenham contract
Marca (via Sport Witness) report that Atlético CEO Miguel Ángel Gil is working to convince Daniel Levy to sell Romero to the LaLiga side. Gil has previous experience negotiating with Levy over the transfers of Kieran Trippier, Matt Doherty and Sergio Reguilon.
Levy is said to be trying to extend Romero’s contract by offering him an increased salary. There are only two years left on his current contract, but Spurs have maintained an asking price of €70m (£59m).
However, Romero wants to leave Tottenham and if he puts pressure on the Premier League side to sell, Spurs could be convinced to lower their asking price.
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Tottenham are in a weakened position, as it has long been reported that Romero’s future could be directly tied to that of Ange Postecoglou – the very manager Daniel Levy just sacked.
Spurs have messed up on Cristian Romero
The importance of having a World Cup winning centre-half in a team’s squad should not be understated. Romero has not been at the top of his game this season, but his quality as a defender has been undeniable since he made the switch from Atalanta to Spurs.
The fact that he is desperate to leave the club shows Tottenham have made some errors. Even if Spurs convince him to stay for another season, he could leave next summer for a reduced transfer fee. Unless Romero commits to Spurs long-term, there is no positive scenario.
Replacing a player of Romero’s calibre will be very tricky and if he does leave, an appropriate amount of resources must be spent to find an adequate replacement.