Tottenham Hotspur
Premier League • England
Key Tottenham detail revealed as Romano drops eye-opening update on Romero to Real Madrid
Fabrizio Romano has shared an important update on Tottenham defender Cristian Romero, who continues to be heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid since the summer transfer window shut.
The LaLiga side failed in their efforts to beat Manchester United to Leny Yoro over the summer as they looked at younger alternatives to the likes of veteran duo David Alaba and Antonio Rudiger.
That has left Carlo Ancelotti and the club’s transfer chiefs still looking at potential options for January or next summer, especially with the aforementioned duo both in their 30s.
Romero is one of the names who is being heavily linked with a switch to the Santiago Bernabeu along with Arsenal star William Saliba, who has formed a formidable partnership with Gabriel at the heart of the Gunners’ defence.
However, Daniel Levy was quick to slap a whopping £146million (€175m/$191m) price tag on the Tottenham man as soon as it became clear that Real had the Argentine World Cup winner on their shortlist of targets.
There have been rumours though regarding there being a release clause in the player’s contract which Real Madrid could look to activate, but Italian transfer expert Romano has now dismissed any such reports.
Sharing the update on X, Romano said: “There’s NO €65m release clause into Cuti Romero’s contract at Spurs despite reports from Argentina. Tottenham considered him untouchable last summer despite interest from top clubs.”
This clarification means that if Real Madrid are indeed serious about making a concrete move for Romero then they will have to make a huge offer for Tottenham to even consider letting the defender leave.
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Romero the leader
Romero has emerged as a real leader in the Tottenham dressing room since Ange Postecoglou walked through the door and has cleaned up some of the disciplinary issues he had last season.
Tottenham paid £42.5m in the summer of 2021 to land the 26-year-old after an initial loan spell in north London and he was made one of Postecoglou’s vice-captains alongside James Maddison after Postecoglou was appointed.
The Australian was, however, forced to defend Romero after the north London derby loss to Arsenal after reports of the centre-back being tired after returning from international duty as he was blamed for Gabriel outmuscling him for the winning goal from a corner.
Speaking after the game, Postecoglou said: “It wasn’t mentioned to me before the game. I knew nothing about it. The players got back on Thursday and we had a Sunday game.
“No one reported anything other than the usual checks of people coming back from international duty so prior to the game – no one said anything.”
Romero is set to return to Tottenham action on October 19 when Spurs host West Ham in a big London derby lunchtime kick-off.
Latest Tottenham transfer news
Napoli boss Antonio Conte has been told he needs to prioritise experience by signing Real Madrid great Sergio Ramos rather than Tottenham defender Radu Dragusin.
Former Tottenham manager Conte has used his connections in England to help Napoli sign stars who are well known to fans of Premier League clubs, such as Scott McTominay, Romelu Lukaku and Billy Gilmour. The manager is hoping Napoli chiefs will add to his defensive options in the January transfer window and this has led to speculation about a surprise move for Dragusin.
The centre-back only joined Tottenham in January, though the fact he is not a regular starter under Ange Postecoglou has supposedly given Napoli hope that they can capture him.
Meanwhile, right-back Pedro Porro admitted he’s “proud” to be linked with Real Madrid amid speculation they could bid €65m, and developments on the Spaniard’s future will be of great interest over at Liverpool as they look to keep Trent Alexander-Arnold.
A recent report from Caught Offside claimed Real Madrid could bring Tottenham to the negotiating table with a €65m (£54.4m / $71.1m) bid for Porro.
But, responding to the links, the 25-year-old admitted he’s “proud” to be mentioned alongside a move to The Bernabeu, though stressed he’s “fully focussed” on Spurs for the time being.
IN FOCUS – Romero v Saliba as Real continue to circle
With both Romero and Saliba heavily linked with a move to Madrid, we thought it would be interesting to see how the pair shape up statistically so far this season.
As you can see, it is fairly even in terms of categories won although the really interesting one is ‘ball recoveries’, where Romero has more than three times as many as the Frenchman through just seven games.
That appears to point towards his more aggressive nature, which Spanish football is renowned for when it comes to defending. Although the fact that Tottenham have been playing more on the front foot than the Gunners this season certainly aids Romero’s figure.
Indeed, Spurs are second only to Manchester City in average possession so far this season at 62.3%. Arsenal, meanwhile, are averaging 48.9% in what is clearly a more pragmatic approach from Mikel Arteta compared to previous campaigns.
But in terms of value for money, 23-year-old Saliba wins hands down and it would not be a major surprise to see him end up swapping a famous red shirt for an even more famous white one in the not so distant future.
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