Tottenham star Cristian Romero set for Inter move as Roberto De Zerbi accepts exit

Tottenham have agreed a €40m (£34m) deal to sell defender Romero to Inter, according to ESPN. The 28-year-old Argentina international has spent five seasons with Spurs. He was appointed club captain by former manager Thomas Frank a year ago following Son Heung-min's departure. Romero privately expressed a desire to leave North London this summer, and a verbal agreement between Spurs and Inter has now been struck.

Spurs head coach De Zerbi confirmed he would respect Romero's decision to seek a new challenge. The manager revealed a pact made when he arrived at the club in April.

"At the beginning of my time, in April, I had, I don’t know, one million individual meetings," De Zerbi stated, as quoted by Metro. "And [the players] told me what was their idea. I said: ‘Yes, help me to stay up, and then I help you to leave’. If you don’t help me to stay up, you stay underwater with me!

"But Romero with me was unbelievable. Top, in his behaviour, his respect, he suffered when he did not play the last game. It is not true that he wanted to leave for Argentina to prepare for their World Cup. It’s not true."

He added: "After the semi-final [against England] we text a message, but I never called him to convince him to stay. I respected what he told me. Like for [Guglielmo] Vicario, like for every player. Romero as a player is one of the best centre-backs in the world, but at the end I said I want to respect the will of the players."

Before Inter emerged as frontrunners, Romero had attracted transfer interest from Spanish giants Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. However, a move to Liga failed to materialise. Spurs have already reinforced De Zerbi's defensive options ahead of Romero departure. The club completed summer deals for centre-backs Jan Paul van Hecke and Marcos Senesi.

While Spurs and Inter have reached a verbal agreement over the transfer fee, Romero is yet to finalise personal terms with the Italian side. Negotiations between Inter and the defender's representatives are ongoing to complete the remaining details of the transfer. If finalised, the move will end Romero's five-year stay at Tottenham as De Zerbi's side continue their summer preparations.