Alexis Mac Allister has revealed that Tottenham defender Cristian Romero is the Argentina player he would “love” to have at Liverpool next season.
The Reds are in the market for a centre-back in an ideal summer transfer market with Arne Slot’s champions already looking to complete several signings.
Jeremie Frimpong has already joined from Bayer Leverkusen in a deal worth around £29.5m with the Netherlands international replacing Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has left for Real Madrid.
Frimpong’s team-mate, Florian Wirtz, could be next through the door as Fabrizio Romano gave his ‘here we go’ confirmation on Tuesday evening, while Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez could soon follow as Liverpool look to agree a fee with the Cherries.
A centre-forward is likely to be their next target but there have been rumours that Slot would also like to provide some extra back-up for Liverpool centre-back duo Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate.
When asked which of his Argentina team-mates he would want to play with at Liverpool, Mac Allister said on international duty: “Oh, Cuti [Romero]. He’s a player that I love.
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“The way he speaks and plays, sometimes you feel like he’s too much because he makes everything so easy.
“He gives me confidence. For me, he’s been the best centre-back in the world for several years.”
Mac Allister’s come only a few weeks after Man Utd winger Alejandro Garnacho also said something similar.
Garnacho told ESPN Argentina: “We know Cuti, he’s the best centre-back in the world. He deserves it, congratulations to him [on winning the Europa League.”
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Romero’s future at Tottenham is uncertain with transfer expert Fabrizio Romano claiming in early May that Spurs were not currently looking to renew his contract.
Romano said: “From what I’m hearing, there is no active conversation between Tottenham and Cristian Romero to extend the contract. And that’s the crucial point, I think.
“In this moment, Cristian Romero is not discussing a new deal, and it’s probably also not something they are expecting to do in the next months.
“So there is a possibility to see movements around Romero.”
Before revealing after the Europa League final, which secured Tottenham’s place in next season’s Champions League, that it could now be harder for Romero to leave Spurs this summer.
Romano said on his YouTube channel: “Now, with Tottenham beating Manchester United in the Europa League final, it means that they will be in the Champions League, so the feeling around the project and also that the chairman of Tottenham will make it even more difficult for some of the more important players to leave Tottenham this summer. One of them is for sure Cuti Romero.
“As mentioned, Cuti Romero was one of the players he [Paratici] wanted, had him at Juventus, first signing him from Genoa, then the player went to Atalanta, Tottenham signed the player from Atalanta, now he remains an absolutely crucial player for Tottenham.
“It is going to be a situation to follow because at the moment, there are no conversations ongoing to extend his contract but for sure now, Daniel Levy will try his best to keep Cuti Romero despite strong interest especially from Spain.”