Tottenham Hotspur have secured the second permanent signing of the Nuno Espirito Santo era, with Argentine defender Cristian Romero joining from Atalanta BC on a long-term contract.
The 23-year-old posted a fond farewell message to Atalanta on social media mere hours after La Dea exercised their clause to buy him from parent club Juventus, and Atalanta will reportedly pocket €55m (£46.6m) from his sale.
Romero - who has been handed the number four shirt - certainly has big boots to fill at Tottenham as he assumes the Toby Alderweireld role following the Belgian's departure, but the South American arrives in North London with an enhanced reputation which also earned him links with Barcelona.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at Romero and what fans can expect from the youthful defender.
Background
© Reuters
Born in the Cordoba Province of Argentina, Romero's beginnings in football came at Belgrano - formerly of the Argentine Premier Division - as he rose through the youth ranks at the club before making his debut in a 1-0 league defeat to Independiente.
The centre-back would go on to feature 13 times in the top flight during his debut season and also made two appearances in the Copa Sudamericana, with his performances alerting Genoa to his availability as the Serie A side signed him as a 20-year-old in 2018.
Romero took no time at all to establish himself as a regular in Serie A, racking up 27 top-flight starts in his debut season with Genoa and managing to find the back of the net against Udinese and Roma, the former coming in just his second Serie A game.
Juventus completed a £23.4m deal for Romero a year later but loaned him back out to Genoa for the 2019-20 season, where he would go on to make 30 more appearances in the top flight and claim a goal and two assists along the way - form which earned him a move to Champions League-competing Atalanta during a rapid rise.
Recent form
Romero arrived at Atalanta with a reputation as a tough-tackling centre-back with exceptional ball-winning and aerial abilities, although his discipline - or lack of - also stood out, as he amassed 24 yellow and three red cards in two years at Genoa.
The Argentine would also pick up an alarming number of bookings last season - 15 in total, with 10 coming in the league - but he took no time at all to become a defensive mainstay under Gian Piero Gasperini, even if he did miss the 2020-21 Serie A opener with Torino through suspension.
Forming a stellar three-man defensive wall with Berat Djimsiti and Rafael Toloi, Romero soon bought into the attacking philosophy which embodies this Atalanta side, and a standout performance came against AC Milan in January, during which he scored one goal and assisted another in a 3-0 success.
Despite featuring further back than the rest of Atalanta's goal-getters, Romero averaged a goal or assist almost once every five games in Serie A and also gained invaluable experience in the Champions League, playing the full 90 of his side's 2-0 victory over Liverpool as well as both legs of their exit to Real Madrid in the last 16.
In total, the 23-year-old racked up three goals and five assists from 42 games in an Atalanta shirt and averaged 2 tackles, 3.1 interceptions and 2.2 clearances per game in Serie A, as well as a pass success rate of 86.2%.
International experience
© Reuters
A relative newcomer to the international stage, Romero's first taste of national team action came at the 2017 Under-20 South American Championship, although his indiscipline was evident from an early age as he was sent off twice in the space of three matches.
Nevertheless, Romero started seven games for the Under-20s - and claimed one assist - to help them qualify for the World Cup later that year, although he did not make the squad for the final tournament.
The centre-back would only complete one fixture for the Under-23s - a 3-1 friendly win over Colombia - before earning his first call-up to the senior side, whom he made his debut for against Chile in a World Cup qualification tie on June 4 of this year.
Five days later, Romero would score his first international goal in only his second game for Argentina as he headed home after just three minutes against Colombia in a 2-2 stalemate, and he was an expected call-up for the 2021 Copa America.
After featuring in back-to-back group wins over Uruguay and Paraguay, a knee injury would force him to miss Argentina's quarter-final and semi-final triumphs, but he returned to play 79 minutes in the final against Brazil before walking up to the podium.
Arriving in North London with an international winners' medal around his neck is a surefire way for Romero to endear himself to the Tottenham fans, who will hope that his winning pedigree rubs off onto the rest of squad during their quest to end the agonising trophy drought.
Ben Knapton
