Who is Cristian Romero? The aggressive Argentine on Tottenham's radar
Fabio Paratici has made a habit of negotiating with up to 10 clubs in order to strike the perfect deal for a player in his sights. Tottenham have been quiet in the transfer market so far, but that is expected to pick up in the coming weeks as the club seek to rebuild after a disappointing two seasons, which has seen them drop out of the Champions League.
A key area of improvement for Spurs is at centre-back. Toby Alderweireld has made it clear he wants to leave north London this summer, while Davinson Sanchez has been mooted as a potential make weight in a deal for Sevilla's Jules Kounde, though the Frenchman has reportedly rejected the advances of the club.
Eric Dier is another who fans would be happy to see the back of and the trio of exits without investment would leave youngster Joe Rodon as the only senior centre-back on the books. Rumours of Takehiro Tomiyasu's arrival from Bologna have quietened over the last week, though he would likely arrive as a right-back replacement for Serge Aurier, with Cristian Romero instead the focus of attention across gossip columns.
Romero was brought to Juventus from Genoa in 2019 with Paratici overseeing the deal and then playing his part in loaning the Argentine to Atalanta last year, where the centre-back excelled. Indeed, Atalanta finished 2020/21 in third to secure Champions League football and kept their crown as Europe's great entertainer. Granted, La Dea shipped 47 goals, the most of Serie A's top five last season, and one fewer than 10th-placed Verona, but that shouldn't take anything away from Romero's fine campaign.
The 23-year-old won the best defender award in Italy's top tier and for good reason too. Having made more interceptions than any other player in both Serie A (96) and the Champions League (30) last season, Romero's stock has soared over the last 12 months, so for Spurs to land a centre-back of his calibre would be quite the coup.
He is less the cultured centre-back many a team pines for in the modern game and rather implements a more aggressive, front foot approach, which has helped endear him to supporters, but also ensured he is a regular fixture in the referees' book. Only Gianluca Mancini (24) has been booked more times than Romero (23) since the start of the 2019/20 Serie A season, yet having received just one red card in that period, he is able to successfully walk the disciplinary tightrope where needed.
When it comes to Romero's performances off the ball, his reading of the game is impressive, but the agressive style of play means he throws himself into action and his blood-and-thunder approach saw him make 2.2 tackles per 90 for Atalanta last season. In addition, 2.5 fouls committed per 90 ranked among the top 10 players to make 20 or more Serie A appearances last season. Evidently, Romero won't be bullied by opposing attackers.
In addition, despite standing at 6'1", Romero doesn't let his shortcomings deter him from dominating in the air with an aerial success rate of 67.9% the ninth best of the 167 players to contest 50 or more aerial duels in Serie A last season. Evidently, Romero thrives off the ball and it meant Atalanta faced fewer shots per game (8.6) than any other team in Serie A last season.
On the ball, his distribution is solid as he yielded an 86.2% pass success rate from 46.2 passes per 90 and while only 30.7% of his passes were forward passes, this is in part due to Romero playing largely in the middle of a back three for Gian Piero Gasperini's side, so he would often look to play the ball sideways and allow his defensive teammates to get the ball into the midfield or to the wing-backs.
However, Romero has largely operated in a three-man defence during his time with Genoa and Atalanta, so suits a particular system to maximise his defensive qualities. Granted, he started clean sheet wins over Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil in Argentina's Copa America success in a four-man defence, but in being well versed in such a setup for his club could prove a hindrance.
That being said, at his age, there is more to come from Romero down the line. His ability to play a three-man backline is a huge bonus for Nuno Espirito Santo, who regularly used that setup with Wolves. On top of that, the interest in Tomiyasu, a defensive right-back, means that when Spurs do press forward, it is likely that Sergio Reguilon would bombard up the left, which would see Nuno's side move to a three-man backline should the club get deals for the Japan international and Romero over the line.
While it could prove to be that links with a move for Romero is another negotiating tactic by Paratici, if Spurs can secure the services of the Argentina international, then it's the statement centre-back signing supporters are hoping for. Like Spurs' defence, Romero is far from the finished product, yet he is well on the way to establishing himself as one of the finest centre-backs on the continent.
