Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte says Spurs will make defender Cristian Romero’s move permanent
As per the Evening Standard, Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte has confirmed that the club will make a permanent move for defender Cristian Romero at the end of the season.
The Atalanta defender moved to north London the previous summer on a loan deal that lasted till the end of the 2021/22 campaign. At the moment, Romero is a Spurs player only until the summer. However, he has an obligation-to-buy clause inserted into his agreement with the Lilywhites which the club has to activate in the next few months.
Conte however, has declared that Romero is as good as a confirmed long-term signing already, despite being a loanee at this juncture of the season. The Italian seems to be impressed with the centre-back during his time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“He’s on loan but we have an obligation to buy. We bought him!”
In order for Spurs to snap up the defender on a permanent basis at the end of the season, they will need to cough up around £42.5m to his parent club. If the deal goes through, the Argentine is expected to sign a five-year deal with Tottenham.
Perfect signing for Conte
Romero made his first appearance of 2022 in the FA Cup fourth-round fixture against Brighton, helping the team to a 3-1 win and progressing to the next stage of the competition. The Argentina international will hope to keep his place for the next FA Cup tie as well after his solid display against the Seagulls.
The Italian manager seems to have a high opinion of the defender despite only playing a few times under Conte, going on to say that Romero was perfect for the Premier League.
“He is perfect for this league. But if you can play in this league you can play in all the leagues in the world. The problem is when you stay in another league, you have to ask if you can play in the Premier League. But when you play here, you can play in any league in the world.”
The centre-back has not had a pretty start to life at Tottenham, after being ruled out for three months due to an injury suffered while on international duty. His first run out this year certainly started on a positive note, and we can hope that it continues.
Conte will be delighted to have the Argentine back to full fitness, as he currently faces a minor defensive crisis with Spurs stars Japhet Tanganga and Eric Dier out injured ahead of the league clash against Southampton.
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Not just Conte, but Tottenham fans will have been delighted to see their star defender back in action as he looked to be in top shape in the FA Cup tie. Hopefully, he continues to star for us for the remainder of the season.
Conte’s praises of Romero being ‘perfect’ for the league will be put to the test tonight, as they welcome Southampton to north London for a Premier League tie. Given Spurs’ injury situation, we can expect the Argentina international to start the game and keep a close eye on the star, as we seek to test out the manager’s prediction regarding Romero.
