Atletico Madrid have agreed a deal in principle to sign Cristian Romero for a fee worth £34million, talkSPORT understands.
The Tottenham captain has long been tipped for a summer exit from north London, and Spurs had already agreed a fee with Napoli for the defender.
The Serie A club were set to pay £34m for Romero, but were unable to agree terms with the player.
More recently, Romero was linked with a shock switch to Spurs’ bitter rivals Arsenal, but any chance of this now looks to have ended.
Inter Milan also held talks earlier with him in the summer, but the Argentine is now set to get his dream move to Spain.
With a fee now agreed for him to join Atletico, Spurs will also retain a 15 per cent sell-on clause on any future transfer.
This comes after Romero agreed personal terms with LaLiga giants Atletico with the player to sign a four-year deal which has the option of a further year.
Romero is now set to join up with compatriot Diego Simeone at Atletico, in a move that will bring to an end his five-year stay at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
His expected £34m move also means that Spurs will make a loss on the £43million they paid Atalanta to sign Romero in 2021.
Tottenham’s defensive overhaul
Spurs have signed centre-backs Jan Paul van Hecke and Marcos Senesi this summer, with Micky van de Ven in positive talks over a new five-year deal.
This left Romero free to leave the club, despite penning a contract extension through to 2029 last August.
His imminent exit comes after he drew criticism from fans for his conduct and ill-discipline last season.
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Romero was sent off twice in 23 league appearances, and received ten yellow cards as Spurs narrowly avoided relegation.
The 2022 World Cup winner also became embroiled in a storm in May when it was reported that he was to miss Tottenham’s crucial final game of the season in favour of a return to his homeland to watch formative club Belgrano.
With Spurs at risk of relegation and Romero getting wind of fan disgruntlement, he later changed his mind and instead was on hand to support his teammates in their quest for survival.
‘Get rid of him’
As Romero closes in on a move away from north London, talkSPORT’s Jamie O’Hara had no qualms about Tottenham losing their captain.
Discussing the defender’s links with Arsenal last week, the Sport Bar host and former Spurs player insisted the club would be better off without him, and claimed their new arrivals are better options.
Speaking on talkSPORT Breakfast, O’Hara said: “Get rid of him. I’ve heard there’s Arsenal chat about him – get rid of him.
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“He was a liability for us last season. We’ve finished 17th in the last two seasons – he was the captain. He didn’t want to be there on the last day. It was only because he got told that he had to come back that he ended up coming back.
“So get rid of him. We’ve got better players now. He’s a liability.
“Van de Ven – make him captain. He’s a player that you want in your side. You got Senesi, Van Hecke. Romero isn’t even going to play.”
After two disappointing league campaigns, Tottenham have set about kickstarting a new era under Roberto De Zerbi this summer.
Spurs have splashed the cash in a bid to rebuild, spending £237m in total which includes twice breaking their club transfer record – first to sign Mateus Fernandes and then Sandro Tonali from West Ham and Newcastle respectively.
And O’Hara insisted there is no place for Romero in De Zerbi’s new-look team, even after playing a central role in Argentina’s run to the World Cup final.
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Continuing to blast Romero, he added: “I’m happy to see the back of him.
“We need a new era under De Zerbi and it looks like he’s putting a right good team together. We’ll see what happens, but it looks like we’ve got a right good team and the players seem to like him.
“But Romero isn’t part of it. Get rid of him, get as much as we can.”
