Barcelona have Tottenham Hotspur‘s Cristian Romero on their short list for the summer.
The La Liga winners are prioritising signing Inter Milan’s Alessandro Bastoni but find his €70m price too high.
On April 29th, Sport Witness covered claims from Spain that Tottenham star is the main alternative to Bastoni.
Tottenham player suits Flick
Sport covered the last two reports on Barcelona’s interest in Cristian Romero.
A fresh claim from Sport covers the latest and title says the Tottenham Hotspur defender’s leadership impresses Hansi Flick.
With the report, the newspaper points out Alessandro Bastoni remains the main defensive target.
However, Barca won’t and can’t afford to meet his €70m price.
The Argentina international is still Plan B and has characteristics which match what the German coach is looking for.
Flick recently used Iñigo Martínez, who is now at Al-Nassr, as an example to explain the importance of leadership qualities.
“Last season we had Iñigo Martínez, who was a great leader. We need players who are capable of leading on the pitch,” he said.
“It’s not just about talking about tactics; we need the players to let their performance on the field do the talking. In Champions League matches, we need players who can show us where we need to go.”
The Tottenham star has ‘more than enough pedigree’, having won the World Cup with Argentina and the Europa League with Tottenham.
Romero isn’t the perfect fit and lacks ‘Bastoni’s finesse’ but is still a ‘good fit’ for Barca.
He could leave Roberto De Zerbi’s side for a ‘very good price’. Sport claim his valuation is around €50m, which could drop further if Spurs are relegated from the Premier League.
Our take: Spurs unlikely to offer huge discount
With the 2-1 win over Aston Villa on Sunday, Tottenham Hotspur climbed out of the relegation zone.
They are now 17th, a point ahead of 18th placed West Ham United and trail 16th placed Nottingham Forest by two points. Roberto De Zerbi’s side have three more matches to avoid a drop to the Championship.
In the event of relegation, Spurs would still stand firm over Cristian Romero’s price as he attracts interest from a few top European clubs.