Romero completes Tottenham transfer from Atalanta

Jason Soutar
Cristian Romero

Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed the signing of Atalanta defender Cristian Romero.

The north Londoners had a €50million plus add ons offer accepted for the Argentina international earlier this week after identifying the centre-back as a transfer target early on in the window.

Barcelona were thought to be challenging Spurs for Romero, but journalist Fabrizio Romano confirmed that the Catalans have never been in the frame.


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The 23-year-old said goodbye to the Serie A club in an emotional statement posted on Instagram.

He wrote: “Unfortunately the day has come that I never thought could come so soon. I say unfortunately because in Atalanta I found more than just a club, but a real family with which I was able to grow and fulfil some of my dreams as a child such as playing and winning with my national team.

“I thank the Percassi family who believed in me more than anyone a year ago, all my teammates, the coach, all the staff and managers. But above all I want to greet the Bergamo fans because they made me feel at home and welcomed me as one of them.

“I am sure that one day we will meet again and I promise you that you will have one more fan who will follow you in every match. Thanks for everything @atalantabc.”

Reports in Italy earlier this week had suggested that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy pondered pulling the plug on the deal to sign Romero.

Italian publication Corriere di Bergamo (via Sport Witness) claims that Levy came extremely close to scrapping the whole transfer.

On Wednesday, the newspaper described it as ‘a hitch between Monday and yesterday’ with Levy having second thoughts about the amount of money it will take to seal a deal.

Former Spurs boss Harry Redknapp is one person looking forward to watching Romero play at Tottenham.

Redknapp told talkSPORT yesterday: “They have got a new sporting director (Fabio Paratici) that’s going to be responsible for bringing the players in.

“It looks like he’s going to go into the Italian market. That’s the market he probably knows.

“It looks like they are trying to get the boy from Atalanta, the centre-back, they tell me he’s a very good player. A few people have said that he’s ‘very good’.”