As per a report, Christian Romero was the first-choice target for Tottenham's Director of football Fabio Paratici.
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Tottenham Hotspur have officially announced the signing of centre-back Christian Romero from Atalanta for a deal worth GBP 47 million. According to Sportsmail, Romero was understood to have been the first-choice target of Tottenham Director of football Fabio Paratici. The 23-year-old is touted as one of the best defenders in Europe after he had a very good Serie A campaign and also played an important role in Argentina’s Copa America 2021 triumph. Meanwhile, Romero is Spurs’ fourth signing of the summer.
Romero and his agent Ciro Palermo arrived in London on Thursday to complete the medical and he will not have to isolate himself since he is already vaccinated, provided he returns a negative test on Saturday.
The Argentine came to Italy in 2018 when he joined Genoa and after an impressive season, he was signed by Juventus. However, he never played for the Turin club as he was loaned out to Atalanta in the summer of 2020 with an option to buy him for GBP 14 million. Therefore the Bergamo club signed him permanently at the end of the season. And that allowed them to make a hefty profit as Romero was handed the No 4 shirt and is expected to join the heart of the Spurs defence.
Romero played three games for Argentina in the Copa America including the final. La Albiceleste kept a clean sheet in every game Romero played and his defensive skills played an important role in keeping the star-studded Brazilian attack in check and securing a 1-0 win in the final. Meanwhile, his superb campaign with Atalanta saw him voted as the best defender in Serie A
Later, he opened up about is Tottenham move to Italian media at the airport before boarding the flight to London.
“I thank them [Tottenham], from the first day they were interested in me, the project they have for me I liked and so for this I chose Tottenham,” Romero told Sky Italia.
“Now I have to answer on the pitch, but first I want to thank all of Bergamo and Atalanta and all my teammates.
“The coach who made me grow in a way that I never thought, I say thank you to everyone.
“I am happy to have made a right choice again, I am very happy for the year I did at Atalanta.
“I thank all of Bergamo, I am sorry to leave it but I have to think about my career and I hope this is a good choice.
“I have to continue to grow and do so, I have to think about doing well now.
“It’s been an incredible year for me, I never thought I’d get to this level.”
Atalanta have been quick to get a replacement for Romero as they brought in Merih Demiral on loan from Juventus.
