Tottenham Captain Cristian Romero Joins Atletico Madrid
Tottenham’s summer took a sharp turn on Saturday morning as the club confirmed captain Cristian Romero has completed a £34.2million move to Atletico Madrid – a sale that leaves Roberto De Zerbi searching for a new leader at the heart of his defence.
Spurs announced the Argentina international’s exit with a short but pointed statement.
“We have reached agreement with Atletico Madrid for the transfer of Cristian Romero,” the club said.
Signed from Atalanta in 2021, Romero quickly became a cornerstone of the back line, playing a central role in the UEFA Europa League triumph of 2024/25 and earning the armband for the 2025/26 season.
He made 32 appearances in all competitions last term, taking his total to 156 in Spurs colours.
“We wish Cuti all the best for the future,” the statement concluded, drawing a line under the defender’s four-year spell in north London and underlining the scale of the void now facing De Zerbi.
Defence dismantled
Romero is not the only defender heading for the exit.
A second departure is expected to be rubber-stamped shortly, with Djed Spence pictured in Milan as he prepared for a medical at Inter earlier in the week. The Serie A champions have agreed a deal worth around £25.6million.
Gazzetta report that Spence has passed his medical and signed a contract running until 2031. He is set to return briefly to London to complete work permit procedures before officially beginning his new chapter in Italy.
Once that move is finalised, Tottenham’s back line will look dramatically different from the one that lifted the Europa League just a few months ago. The club hierarchy, though, are already pivoting towards the other end of the pitch.
Attack in focus
With Romero gone and Spence on his way, attention inside Spurs is expected to swing firmly towards attacking reinforcements.
The club have been linked with Folarin Balogun, Cody Gakpo and Savinho as they look to sharpen De Zerbi’s forward options. Savinho, in particular, has been a key attacking target throughout much of the summer window.
The Brazilian winger’s situation drew extra intrigue this week when he did not train with his team-mates on Thursday as they stepped up preparations for Sunday’s Community Shield clash with Arsenal in Cardiff.
Initial reports suggested illness, and that has now been confirmed by his current manager, City boss Enzo Maresca.
“Yesterday he was not part of the session,” Maresca said at his pre-Arsenal press conference on Friday. “He was a bit ill.
“We’ll see today, the session is in the afternoon, we’ll see how it is and we’ll decide.”
For Tottenham, those words will be monitored as closely as any medical report. They have been working on a deal for Savinho for much of the summer, and with their captain sold and another defender packing his bags, the pressure to land their prime attacking target is only growing.
