Tottenham have been the biggest spenders in the summer transfer window so far as Roberto De Zerbi plots a big season ahead
A penny or £237million for the thoughts of both Harry Kane and Cristian Romero as they look at Tottenham's transfer business so far this summer.
Back in March 2019, just a couple of months before Spurs played in their first and thus far only Champions League final, Kane made it clear in an almost annual familiar address what needed to happen at the north London club for him to remain a part of it.
"I've always said as long as the club is moving in the right direction and showing the right ambition, I want to be part of the journey," he said. "It's something you assess along the way. A lot of people look at it and say this is maybe the best team we've had, maybe the best team we'll ever have, and the best manager, but it's important that we have something to show for it.
"It's not just, when we look back in 10 years, we had a great team. It's, 'Look what they did. Look what they won.' The challenge for us is, can we keep going up and up and up? It's going to be difficult in the next couple of years with the stadium and the finances."
Tottenham did not go up and up. Those years were the peak for the club and within months of losing to Liverpool in Madrid, Mauricio Pochettino was gone and Kane was stuck, his new six-year contract the previous summer trapping him as he would spend another four years at the club.
He watched on frustrated as they went through managers like changing underwear and spent money, but not on the kind of next level players to match Kane's ambitions because they would not compete on wages for such stars with other clubs.
In the end Spurs had to let the England captain fly the nest in 2023 to ensure they did not lose him for nothing the next summer as he was understandably turning down everything they offered him. Kane duly got everything he deserved at Bayern Munich - the goals, the silverware and finally the global acclaim if not that pesky Champions League trophy.
While Kane will certainly not regret the move, there will be a touch of sadness that he could not realise everything he wanted at Tottenham. He will look at everything his old club have done this summer so far and look set to continue to do and wonder why they could not show such ambition during his days there.
After Kane exited for Germany, Romero was left to take on the mantle of frustrated star and the Argentine was even more vocal about it, using his Instagram account to take shots at the club's lack of ambition before, like Kane, signing a bumper new long-term contract.
As Spurs sank down the Premier League table and Ange Postecoglou was sacked just weeks after landing the club's first trophy in 17 years, the centre-back posted in his farewell to the Greek-born Australian: "From day one you paved the way despite the many obstacles that always existed and always will exist."
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Six months later, Romero hit out at the club hierarchy, saying: "At times like this, it should be other people coming out to speak, but they don't - as has been happening for several years now. They only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies."
Those last few words were later removed in an edited version of the post, but just a month later the Spurs captain bemoaned the lack of reinforcements arriving in the January transfer window amid the Lilywhites' latest injury crisis. He had needed to play through illness before coming off at half-time in the draw with Manchester City.
"I wanted to be available to help them even though I wasn’t feeling well, especially since we only had 11 players available — unbelievable but true and disgraceful," he said.
So what must Romero make of the fact that Tottenham have finally woken up in the summer in which he looks likely to make his Kane-like exit?
Spurs have ripped the ceiling off their strict wage structure and have splashed the cash in the transfer market to ensure that far from another relegation battle, Roberto De Zerbi can plan for a far bigger season, one without European football.
The club record £85million signing of Mateus Fernandes is about to be smashed by their first £100million transfer with Sandro Tonali arriving from Newcastle. Those two moves came after the £52million capture of Brighton's Jan Paul van Hecke, the De Zerbi man expected to replace Romero on the right side of central defence.
All that came after the free transfers of Andy Robertson, Romero's international team-mate Marcos Senesi and goalkeeper Martin Dubravka. All six players signed so far are ready-made and Premier League proven.
Tottenham will need to sell players this summer, not only for PSR purposes but also because the squad is now bloated in certain departments.
Romero's path to the exit door is clearer than it ever has been and even De Zerbi could not guarantee he would play for the club again as he missed the end of the season with a knee injury.
There is no doubting his quality as an inspirational defender when he's fully fit and not suspended but the new arrivals have given the club the chance to move on a player who is rarely far from the headlines, constantly linked with a move to Spain and has had a rollercoaster relationship with the fans in recent months.
His final Spurs Instagram post of the season felt like a goodbye.
"I hope this season serves as a lesson and an opportunity to correct everything that was done wrong, both on and off the pitch, for the future of this beautiful club," he said. "Most importantly, thank you to all the fans for always being there and supporting us throughout the entire season. Because no matter what happens, players and coaches may come and go, but the ones who are always there through the good times and the bad are you. You deserve nothing but the best. The best, always."
Will Romero come and go like this he spoke about? Signing that new contract last summer will have a knock-on effect for him as it did for Kane in that his price tag will not be low. With Van Hecke fetching £52million despite being in the final 12 months of his contract and 19-year-old Luka Vuskovic, who has never played a game for Spurs, heading the other way for £50million, it's difficult to justify selling a World Cup winner in his prime with three years left on his contract for a similar figure.
But will the big clubs that Romero would leave for pay higher sums for a player who has had his injury problems in recent years? Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have long been linked, with the former's boss Diego Simeone watching in the stands in Miami as the Spurs centre-back played a pivotal role in helping Argentina eventually break the hearts of Cape Verde in the World Cup last 32 on Friday night.
Much could depend on Romero's World Cup with Argentina's progress and whether he reminds everyone on the global stage of what he can do in a team surrounded by quality.
It might even make him wonder what that might be like at Spurs. Even without Champions League stage this season, there may just be a part of the skipper that takes a breath and thinks 'well Tottenham are finally doing what I wanted them to do, maybe this could be fun'. In essence, he is a perfect De Zerbi player.
He will also look at Kane though and everything that has happened since for a player finally getting the global recognition he should have got in north London. Romero has never been particularly appreciated among his Premier League peers as he is abroad. The door is finally unlocked for the Tottenham captain, whether he walks through it will depend on him and that price tag.
