For months, Atletico Madrid have been doing their best to sign Tottenham star center back Cristian Romero away, and, around May, it looked like the Rojiblancos might actually be successful in stealing one of the best center backs in the Premier League.
Diego Simeone and Atelti were dogged in their approach to signing Romero, who seemed to be winking hard at a move to the Spanish capital. But Tottenham became all that much more interested in holding onto Romero when they saw just how valuable he can be, as he was the Europa League Player of the Tournament en route to Spurs winning the Europa League for the first time in 41 years.
Even firing Ange Postecoglou hasn't hurt Tottenham's ability to hold onto Romero. Though Simeone and Atleti have been pushing hard to sign the Argentinian star away from North London, Romero has remained loyal to Spurs and seems excited to work with new manager Thomas Frank.
According to a report from MARCA's David G. Medina, via The Spurs Express, Atletico Madrid don't have any intention of meeting hthe 70 million euro valuation that Tottenham have set for the 27-year-old center back. In fact, Atleti's gameplan seems to be eerily similar to crosstown rival Real Madrid's; they think that they can get Romero for cheaper and believe that if Romero really wants to play for them, he will force Spurs to sell for the price Atleti want.
Atletico Madrid are not Real Madrid
Well, here's a news flash for Atletico Madrid, but in case those geniuses haven't figured it out over the decades of their stubborn inferiority complex, they aren't Real Madrid. What works for Madrid as far as signing global superstars like Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kylian Mbappe as free agents won't work for Atletico, because Atleti don't have the pull that Real do.
But maybe more importantly, Real Madrid are also able to convince players to run down their contracts and sign them for free because free agents get higher wages and more money in bonuses that would have went to a transfer fee.
Romero isn't in that situation, so Atleti's strategy is pretty foolish. If anything, it's outright insulting. Instead of paying for Romero, Atleti are basically sending an implicit message to Romero that they don't value him. They think he's only worth 50 million euros as a player when his own club think he's worth 70 million and have made him a vice captain.
Tottenham have more fans around the world than Atleti. They play in a club with higher revenues. Atleti may be a more successful club sporting-wise, but, well, Spurs are the ones holding a major European trophy, and Atleti have to face the reality that the only way Romero joins them is if he is desperate to. And he is not. He has no reason to be.