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Tottenham are in talks with Atlético Madrid over the sale of Cristian Romero after categorically rejecting Arsenal’s approach for the Argentina defender and are expected to agree a new five-year deal with Micky van de Ven.
Romero has made no secret of his desire to leave Spurs despite signing a new four-year contract at the start of last season and had looked set to join Internazionale for a fee of around £35m. But Atlético are long-term suitors of the 27-year-old and are thought to be his preferred destination, with Diego Simeone’s side understood to be prepared to match Inter’s bid.
Reports in Spain on Friday suggested that personal terms have already been agreed with Romero, although his move may have to wait for Atlético to free up space in their squad before they can complete the transfer. Nahuel Molina, Romero’s Argentina teammate, is expected to join Roma while Aston Villa are hoping to sign Matteo Ruggeri.
Arsenal had also made their interest known as they search for a replacement for William Saliba, with the Frenchman out for an extended period due to a back issue. But Tottenham – who have signed defenders Jan Paul van Hecke and Marcos Senesi this summer – insisted that they did not want to sell to another Premier League club, least of all their north London rivals. Arsenal are also interested in Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa.
It is understood that Van de Ven had been considering his future in north London at the start of the summer after Tottenham narrowly avoided relegation last season. But the impact of the new manager, Roberto De Zerbi, has persuaded the Netherlands international to commit his future to the club after talks with his representatives.
Tottenham have already spent more than £200m on six new players this summer and are still in the market for a new attacker. Last week, De Zerbi said that they had “completed 60% of our project in the transfer market”.
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