Several major clubs are circling Tottenham captain Cristian Romero after his performances at the 2026 World Cup, according to Fabrizio Romano – and it has been widely reported that Spurs are willing to sell.
Romano reports that the race for the 28-year-old centre-back is expected to heat up significantly over the next few weeks, with clubs from La Liga and Serie A among those monitoring the situation, according to Spurs Web. Romero has not only been defensively commanding for Argentina but has also scored two crucial goals as the defending champions push deep into the tournament.
This was not an accidental shop window. Football Insider reported last week that Spurs had identified the World Cup as the ideal moment to maximise Romero’s value, and the plan appears to be working exactly as intended. Tottenham have already made significant reinforcements to their backline, signing both Marcos Senesi and Jan Paul van Hecke this summer.
The case for selling now
The argument is straightforward and, for once, hard to argue with. Romero is 28, coming off a World Cup on the grandest stage, and commanding attention from elite clubs. That combination does not repeat itself on demand. Vinai Venkatesham has spoken about the need for Tottenham to be smarter about selling players – and selling a player at peak market value rather than watching that value erode is precisely what smarter looks like.
There have been suggestions that Romero may have had second thoughts about leaving and could be open to committing to Roberto De Zerbi’s project. That would be a romantic outcome, and Spurs fans will know exactly how those tend to end.
What happens next
The timeline now depends largely on Argentina’s tournament run. Every clean sheet and every Romero goal is effectively another digit on the asking price. Romano has suggested the race for Romero could really heat up over the next few weeks – if interest from La Liga or Serie A clubs intensifies as expected, Spurs will need to decide quickly whether the reinforcements already signed are genuinely sufficient, or whether they are about to discover otherwise.
Given the broader pattern of speculation around the squad this summer, the club is navigating a window where getting the sequencing wrong carries real consequences. Romero’s exit, handled well, could fund the next step. Handled badly, it would just be another name on a long list of players Spurs sold at the wrong time for the wrong reasons.
