Tottenham Hotspur are about to sign Cristian Romero. According to football.london Atalanta has accepted the Londoners’ offer for the 23-year-old centre-back. With a transfer fee of fifty million euros, Romero will become the second most expensive purchase ever for Tottenham, behind Tanguy Ndombélé, who came over from Olympique Lyon two years ago for sixty million euros. Romero will be the most expensive outgoing transfer ever for Atalanta.
Since the appointment of Fabio Paratici as technical director, Tottenham has been targeting Romero. Last Friday Fabrizio Romano already announced that the Spurs had increased their offer to a guaranteed amount of fifty million euros, and that offer has been football.london so accepted. This means that the transfer is in its final phase, because Romero has already personally agreed with Tottenham.
Atalanta will not let the Argentinian center back leave definitively until his replacement has arrived, Gianluca Di Marzio reported five days ago. Merih Demiral of Juventus is the main candidate for that. The 23-year-old Turk, who has, among others, Matthijs de Ligt in front of him in Turin, also screens with interest from Borussia Dortmund. Atalanta already announced the arrival of Matteo Lovato on Saturday. The 21-year-old center defender comes from Hellas Verona for eight million euros.
Romero won the Copa América with Argentina last summer together with his future Tottenham team-mate Giovani Lo Celso. The mandekker has been rented by Atalanta for two seasons from Juventus since last summer. Because Atalanta has an option to buy €16 million for the South American, the club can already sell him on with a big profit. Romero leads 42 official matches la Dea, in which he scored 3 goals and provided 5 assists. At Tottenham, he must make forget Toby Alderweireld, who left on a free transfer to Al-Duhail SC in Qatar.
Teun Koopmeiners
The transfer of Romero could have serious consequences for the future of Teun Koopmeiners. The AZ captain hopes to make a transfer this summer and is in Atalanta’s interest. “The talks are in full swing,” Koopmeiners told on Sunday The Telegraph. “Whether I’ll be gone before the start of the competition? Shoot me a leak.” Romero’s transfer could speed up the process, as it broadens Atalanta’s financial options. “It could make a lot of difference, yes,” Koopmeiners agreed.