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ATLETICO Madrid have agreed a £34.2m (40m euros) fee to sign Cristian Romero from Tottenham.

The 28-year-old is set to become Atletico’s fourth signing of the summer, while Spurs will also retain a 15% sell-on clause as part of the deal.

Argentina international Romero was the subject of interest from Premier League champions Arsenal in recent days, but Tottenham did not want to sell their captain to their north London rivals.

He leaves Tottenham after five seasons, having made 156 appearances for them, scoring 13 times, following an initial campaign on loan from Atalanta in 2021.

The centre-back played for Argentina during their run to the World Cup final this summer, missing just one game.

Romero was scheduled to return to pre-season with Spurs in the coming week after being given extra time off following the tournament in North America.

He captained the side last season as Tottenham narrowly avoided relegation from the Premier League.

Having signed permanently from Atalanta in a £42.5m deal, Romero became a key figure in Spurs’ defence and was made club captain in 2025 following Son Heung-min’s departure.

Romero angered supporters at the end of last season when he flew to Argentina before the final game of the season against Everton, when their Premier League status was in the balance.

The defender had been keen to watch his boyhood club Belgrano take on River Plate in his homeland, but he returned to London in time to watch as Tottenham stayed up.

Fellow defender Djed Spence is set to join Romero in departing Spurs, with the England defender in advanced talks to sign for Inter Milan in a £25.6m deal.

With the additions of midfielders Kang-in Lee and Morten Hjulmand and left-back Alejandro Grimaldo, Atletico are set to take their transfer spending over £100m this summer should they complete the Romero deal.

Head coach Diego Simeone is aiming to strengthen his squad after they finished fourth in La Liga last season, with Villarreal beating them to third place.

BBCSport

A.I

Aug. 13, 2026

Tags: Alejandro Grimaldo Diego

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