Cristian Romero – Tottenham Hotspur

Cristian Romero – Player Profile

Standing at 6ft 1in, Cristian Romero is a powerful central defender. He joined Tottenham Hotspur from Italian Club Atalanta for a reported fee of £42m in August 2022.

Cristian Romero began his career with Belgrano, whose youth team he joined in 2014. He made his first team debut for Belgrano in an Argentinian First Division match against Independiente on 28^th August 2014.

After several seasons of top flight football with Belgrano, Cristian Romero was signed by Serie A (Italian Top Flight) club Genoa in July 2018 for just €4.25m (£3.7m).

He scored his first senior goal in the 2018/19 season in a Serie A match against Udinese in August 2018, which resulted in a 2-2 draw. Over the course of the season, Romero made a total of 29 appearances in all competitions with two goals and an assist to his name, finishing in 17^th place.

After his spell with Genoa, he signed for Italian giants Juventus for a reported fee of €26m, before being immediately being loaned to Genoa for the duration of the 2019/20 season. Romero made 33 appearances in all competitions scoring 1 goal and providing 2 assists. The club finished in 17^th place once again.

Cristian Romero subsequently joined Atalanta on loan for the duration of the following season (2020/21), with the deal giving La Dea an option to sign the Argentine central defender on a permanent basis.

It was a stellar season for Romero and Atalanta, where they finished in 3^rd place with 78 points, and only one behind AC Milan. Over the course of the season, he made 42 appearances in all competitions, scoring 3 goals and providing an impressive 5 assists from centre back. He was also voted as the Serie A’s best defender for the 2020/21 season.

Romero and his team also got to the round of 16 of the Champions League, losing to 14 time European Champions Real Madrid.

The Argentine never made a single first team appearance for Juventus, and Atalanta decided to sign the central defender on a permanent basis from the Old Lady for a fee as low as €17m in August 2021.

He was not an Atalanta player for much longer, as Spurs announced that they had signed the player on loan for the duration of the 2021/22 season with an option to buy on the same day. Cristian Romero made his Tottenham debut in a 1-0 Premier League victory against Manchester City as a late substitute.

His first start for the club came shortly after that in a Europa Conference League match against Portuguese side Pacos de Ferreira. Spurs finished in 4^th last season, qualifying for the Champions League. Romero made 30 appearances in all competition, scoring 1 goal. The deal was made permanent this summer.

Romero played every game in the 2022 World Cup for Argentina, and was part of the team that won the tournament, beating France in the final on penalties.

To date, Romero has made 50 appearances for Tottenham, with 1 goal to his name. He has made 21 appearances in all competitions so far this season (2022/23).