Cristian Romero is no longer a Tottenham Hotspur player as of this year, as Roberto De Zerbi finally cut the high priced center back lose by selling him to Atletico Madrid. Spurs did not sell Romero for much, agreeing to a 34 million pound transfer when they spent nearly 20 million pounds more on Jan Paul van Hecke earlier in the window.
But so far, De Zerbi has no regrets. Not only has Van Hecke been a better player than Romero, including as a passer on the ball, but he has also bought into the manager and the team even more. And that's a poor reflection on Romero, who had been at Tottenham for years and was even named the captain for the 2025/26 season after the legendary Son Heung-min departed to MLS.
Romero's captaincy always seemed off, to be honest, and it became outright disastrous by the end of the 2025/26 Premier League campaign when he almost seemed to quit on Spurs at their very worst. After his injury, he even tried to leave the club early for Argentina before the World Cup instead of supporting their very survival on the last Matchday against Everton.
Cristian Romero always wanted Atletico Madrid
Cristian Romero's current manager at Atletico Madrid, fellow Argentinian icon Diego Simeone, admitted outright that the center back had been wanting to join his club for two years before finally doing so this summer.
Simeone told reporters, via The Spurs Web, “We’ve been after him for two years. He’s also wanted to come here for two years. The club made a huge effort to sign him and he gives us what we need, everything he’s got. Hopefully he can keep that up, given his humility. He’s got a lot of character and presence, and we need him exactly as you see him. He came here to be a key figure for the club and the team.”
While Romero did indeed give an infamous interview near the end of the 2024/25 Premier League season in which he admitted he was dreaming of a move to La Liga, with Atletico Madrid heavily interested in his services, that talk quelled after Romero helped Spurs win the Europa League - and it was very quiet after Thomas Frank named him the captain.
But you can see why Frank's controversial decision to name Romero his captain backfired so badly. Romero's heart was never truly with Spurs; it was always with Atleti. Simeone flat out saying it now that Romero is his player makes Frank's baffling decision look all the more frustrating. Romero should have never been Spurs captain.
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