Manchester United are readying a surprise move on Tottenham Hotspur to sign Cristian Romero this summer, according to a respected Argentine journalist, with Spurs boss Roberto De Zerbi already planning for his exit and having green-lighted the signing of a £50m replacement.
After successive 17th-placed finishes in the Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur know that major changes are needed this summer to help pull the club away from the lower reaches of the table and back to challenging for European places, where they evidently feel they belong.
With De Zerbi now trusted with turning their fortunes around, this summer is expected to see wholesale changes made to the Spurs squad right across the park, and with some tough transfer decisions needed to be made.
One of those highly expected to leave is divisive club captain Romero, whose ability is not in question but whose attitude sometimes is.
And with the World Cup winner strongly expected to depart this summer – sources have told TEAMtalk that Atletico Madrid are leading the chase for the 28-year-old, with intermediaries working hard behind the scenes to facilitate the transfer.
However, respected journalist Gaston Edul, who boasts 1.2m followers on X, has revealed that Man Utd are attempting to get their next deal over the line with a move in the pipeline for Romero.
He wrote on X: ‘Manchester United wants to buy Cuti Romero and is preparing an offer.’
While Edul does not say how much Manchester United are prepared to spend, sources have revealed that Spurs have placed a £60m (€70m, $80m) valuation on their captain to allow him to move on this summer.
We also understand that United would ideally like to sign another experienced central defender this summer, though their priorities are midfield reinforcements, a left-back and a new striker.
Furthermore, it seems De Zerbi is already planning for life after the Argentine, having green-lit a second centre-half signing worth £50m to go alongside his earlier capture of Marcos Senesi from Bournemouth…
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As a like-for-like, Tottenham have certainly pulled off a smart piece of business by landing Senesi from Bournemouth on a free. While not as uncompromising a defender as Romero, the departing Cherries star is a brilliant ball-playing defender and was responsible for more forward passes and the building of attacks than many of his peers this season.
Beyond that, Spurs are also closing on the signing of Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton after sources confirmed the star has now agreed personal terms over a move to north London.
On Sunday, Brighton, via CEO Paul Barber, officially confirmed they’ve rejected two Tottenham bids.
The first was understood to be worth around £40m. The second was elevated to roughly £50m with bonuses, and both were knocked back.
Those sums are staggering, not least because Dutch international Van Hecke only has one year remaining on his contract and thus can be signed for nothing a year from now.
Nevertheless, De Zerbi in particular is keen to immediately reunite with Van Hecke, who he managed during his time with the Seagulls.
Now a full agreement over a deal is understood to be close, with a third offer, which still comprises £50m but with a greater portion paid up front, likely to be accepted by the Seagulls.
Spurs will hope to wrap up the transfer in due course and could look to seal a full agreement before his involvement in the Netherlands’ World Cup campaign gets underway on Sunday.
The north London side could look to reinvest money received for Romero by advancing in club-to-club talks with Manchester City for Savinho.
The Brazilian is projected to cost a fee in the £50m-£60m range and is ready to say yes to Spurs once again, just as he did last summer before City blocked the move.