'I hope it happens!' - Atletico Madrid continue underhanded courtship of Tottenham's Cristian Romero as Julian Alvarez tells club to sign Argentine team-mate

Interest from both Atletico Madrid and their city rivals Real Madrid has intensified in recent weeks, with Romero reportedly open to exploring opportunities in Spain. Having joined Spurs permanently in 2022 for £42 million, the 27-year-old still has two years left on his contract, which could complicate negotiations.

Tottenham hold a strong negotiating position given Romero’s contract length and market value, currently estimated at €75 million (£64m/$85m). Despite that, Atletico believe they could drive the price down, especially if Tottenham fail to secure Champions League football for next season.

Speaking to Spanish outlet AS, Alvarez made no effort to hide his hopes to see Romero at Atletico and said: "I hope [he joins]! I hope it happens. He's a great player. One of the best centre-backs in the world, in my opinion. A teammate on the national team and a great person. Such a great addition to the team would be a great help.

"[Atleti] feels more like Argentina compared to the Premier League. Maybe also because of the language, or, as we were saying, there are many Argentinian team-mates, the coach too, and so I felt a bit more like Argentina. It's like a family, very close. The passion, courage, and heart that Atleti identifies with is felt a bit more from within."

Romero has previously admitted that Spain's top division remains a personal goal. In an interview with TyC Sports last month, the Argentine defender confessed: "La Liga is left for me to play in, I would love to, to tell you the truth. I would love to play there because it’s the league I’m missing. I try to above all live the day to day. There are almost two months until the championship ends and in my head it’s always [about] performing to the maximum, trying to finish in the best way possible.

"We’re in the semi-final of the Europa League. It’s an important step for the club after so many years where they hadn’t reached those stages. To say I’m happy [with that]? No, because in the end I want to win it, but it depends on a lot of things. After that, once the championship finishes, we’ll see. The truth is I haven’t spoken to my representative yet but I’m open to anything. In my head, I always [think about] growing, also [about] going to new places to keep growing but I don’t want to talk about that yet because there’s a few months left of the championship."

Tottenham still have an opportunity to change the narrative of their season. The club faces Bodo/Glimt in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final on Thursday. Should they progress to the final and go on to lift the trophy, the resulting Champions League qualification might convince Romero to stay, at least for one more season. If the team falls short, interest from La Liga may become more difficult to resist for the Argentine.