Inter Lose Ground to Atletico Madrid in Romero Race | OneFootball

Inter laid the groundwork to sign Cristian Romero from Tottenham over the last couple of weeks, but didn’t progress to the final stages, as they wished to offload Benjamin Pavard first. That hasn’t occurred yet, and Atletico Madrid have overtaken them, Alfredo Pedullà reports.

The Nerazzurri relayed to his agent that they aren’t moving forward with the acquisition at this stage. Los Colchoneros have a window to get it done. The deal has significant traction and could go through before the Serie A holders have time to counter.

Inter were ready to spend €40M on Romero, whose relationship with Tottenham has soured because he stepped away from the team to rehab in Argentina before the World Cup while they were fighting to avoid relegation and due to the recent additions of two starting-caliber defenders, Marcos Senesi and Jan Paul van Hecke, La Gazzetta dello Sport informs.

According to Fabrizio Romano (via SOSFanta), despite their interest and a few conversations with his agent, the Nerazzurri weren’t quite able to reach a complete agreement on his personal terms. Regardless, they wished to get rid of Pavard first, who has a bulky salary as well, and other excess players. They offered the Frenchman to multiple sides, including Al-Ittihad during the Moussa Diaby talks, but without finding a landing spot.

Our Take on Inter and Romero

That’s a convenient narrative, but a purchase of this caliber can’t realistically depend on parting ways with an outcast, even a particularly cumbersome one. It’s more likely that their ownership raised questions about a mammoth investment, wages included, for somebody who’s not a youngster. If they had sensed they could eventually strike a deal, they probably wouldn’t have brought in John Stones.