Atletico Madrid have agreed a £34.2m (€40m) deal with Tottenham Hotspur for Cristian Romero, with the Argentina defender now set to leave north London after five seasons.
Tottenham will retain a 15% sell-on clause as part of the agreement. Romero is expected to become Atletico’s fourth signing of the summer as Diego Simeone continues to reshape his squad.
The 28-year-old had also attracted recent interest from Arsenal, but Spurs were unwilling to sell their captain to their north London rivals.
Romero initially joined Tottenham on loan from Atalanta in 2021 before completing a permanent £42.5m transfer. He made 156 appearances for Spurs and scored 13 goals, establishing himself as a central figure in the club’s defence.
He was appointed captain in 2025 following Son Heung-min’s departure and led Tottenham through a difficult campaign last season as the club narrowly avoided relegation from the Premier League.
Romero also featured prominently for Argentina during their run to this summer’s World Cup final, missing only one match during the tournament in North America. Tottenham had given him additional time off before his scheduled return to pre-season.
His relationship with some Spurs supporters became strained near the end of last season when he travelled to Argentina before the final league game against Everton to watch boyhood club Belgrano face River Plate. He returned to London in time to see Tottenham secure their Premier League status.
Romero may not be the only defender leaving Spurs this summer. Djed Spence is also in advanced talks over a £25.6m transfer to Inter Milan.
Atletico have already signed Kang-in Lee, Morten Hjulmand and Alejandro Grimaldo. Adding Romero would push their summer spending beyond £100m as Simeone looks to improve on last season’s fourth-place La Liga finish.