A major Tottenham sale that was practically agreed on the club-to-club side of things is about to be hijacked, and the player prefers to join the hijacking club, according to reports.
The headlines at Tottenham this summer have largely revolved around incomings. A combined £237m was spent on Jan Paul van Hecke, Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali.
Further big-money additions are being worked on, with Spurs aiming to sign a right winger (Savinho) and at least one more forward. Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo and Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson are in the club’s sights.
However, going slightly under the radar is the fact Tottenham are primed to offload one of their very best players – Cristian Romero.
The Argentine wants out and having banked Marcos Senesi and Van Hecke already, Spurs won’t stand in his way.
A move to Serie A champions Inter Milan looked on the cards, with transfer guru, Fabrizio Romano, revealing a club-to-club agreement was practically sealed.
Taking to X two days ago, Romano wrote: ‘Inter are expected to make final decision soon on Cuti Romero deal.
‘No issues on agreement with Spurs on fee, Romero asks same salary he has at Tottenham.
‘Inter to decide soon as more clubs are keen on the Argentinian; exits could be key.’
However, there’s always been a sneaking suspicion Romero favoured a move to Spain, and more specifically one of LaLiga’s big three.
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Atletico Madrid to hijack Inter Milan deal for Cristian Romero
And according to the latest from Marca as well as a fresh update from Romano, the Argentine centre-back could now link up with his fellow countryman, Diego Simeone, at Atletico Madrid.
Firstly, Marca declared Atleti are going ‘all out’ for Romero and are poised to launch their first official bid, which the report states will be worth €30m / £25.7m.
Crucially, Marca made a point of categorically stating Romero would much prefer to join Atleti over Inter.
Reporting on X soon after, Romano provided his own update. While much of the information was the same, he suggested Atleti’s upcoming bid will actually be worth €40m / £34.3m and not €30m / £25.7m as Marca claimed.
He wrote: ‘Atlético Madrid are preparing a bid for Cristian Romero to be submitted after next sales ([Nahuel] Molina + possibly [Matteo] Ruggeri).
‘Bid to be in line with Inter previous proposal; Inter had €40m package in place with Spurs but nothing done on player side.
‘Simeone wants Cuti, as @marca reports.’