Tottenham handed lift over centre-back signing, despite Barcelona interest

Atalanta are pressing ahead with signing a replacement for Cristian Romero, as Tottenham pursue the defender, according to reports.

The Serie A club have decided to exercise their right to buy Romero from Juventus a year early into his two-season loan deal with Atalanta, which started in September 2020.

Once that deal goes through, Atalanta want around €60m to offload him this summer. And Spurs appear to be in pole position after making two attempts to land Romero.

It had been reported that Tottenham had previously offered Atalanta €40m plus up to €10m in add-ons.

Now, Calciomercato report that the club have tabled a brand new bid. The media outlet says that this could be Spurs’ last attempt at securing the signature of Romero with €55m on the table.

And all the signs are that a deal is getting closer with Atalanta looking for a replacement.

Atalanta are eyeing up a move for Augsburg defender Felix Uduokhai, as claimed by a number of sources.

Spurs keen on €30m man Pellegrini

Tottenham are interested in signing Roma’s Lorenzo Pellegrini, however, remain reluctant to meet the midfielder’s €30m release clause “which will expire in 10 days.

Calciomercato have reported that Uduokhai is on the Serie A club’s radar, and SPORT1 suggest talks are underway.

Reporter Florian Plettenberg tweeted: “Atalanta is strongly interested in the central defender [Uduokhai] from FC Augsburg/Germany.

‘Talks have already taken place. Price tag over €15m (£12.8m). He is supposed to replace Cristian Romero, who is facing a move to Spurs.”

Uduokhai only moved to Augsburg on a permanent basis from Wolfsburg last summer.

He was competing with Germany at the Tokyo Olympics. But after drawing their final game with the Ivory Coast they missed out on the quarter-finals.

That could well mean a prospective deal to Atalanta could be speeded up.

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Barcelona interest

While Spurs look like favourites for Romero, Barcelona have also entered the fray.

According to Italian journalist Gianluigi Longari, Barca have submitted a proposal for the Argentinian. They have financial issues though and may have to sell players before they can add to their squad.

EXCL 🚨Scende in campo anche il #Barcelona per #Romero. 🇦🇷 Oggi è stata presentata la prima proposta all’#Atalanta. Come anticipato i #blaugrana fanno sul serio per il difensore argentino fortemente richiesto anche dal #Tottenham. #THFC

— Gianluigi Longari (@Glongari) July 28, 2021

The player is also believed to be keen on joining former Atalanta team-mate Pierluigi Gollini at Spurs, say Football London.

The Italian keeper signed on loan last week and Romero would be happy to join him in north London.