Inter Milan falters in the Cristian Romero deal due to difficulties in offloading players.
The delays in selling Benjamin Pavard and Davide Frattesi caused Inter Milan to miss out on Cristian Romero, paving the way for Atletico Madrid to accelerate and gain the advantage.
The race to sign center-back Cristian Romero is taking a major turn as Inter Milan have made things difficult for themselves in the transfer market. Their inability to offload players no longer in their plans has cost the Serie A club their advantage, creating favorable conditions for Atletico Madrid to make a decisive breakthrough.
Financial difficulties are holding Inter Milan back.
Despite initial agreements to sign the Argentinian international, Inter Milan's management recently sent a message of disappointment to Romero's agent. According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, the Nerazzurri have informed them that the deal "cannot happen at this time".
Inter Milan's biggest obstacle doesn't stem from Tottenham Hotspur's attitude, but rather from their internal budget. To meet Spurs' asking price of around 40 million euros, Inter must successfully offload players like Benjamin Pavard or Davide Frattesi. However, the process of selling these stars remains stalled, leaving the Italian club in a completely passive position.
Atletico Madrid seized the opportunity thanks to their squad overhaul campaign.
In contrast to Inter Milan's slow pace, Atletico Madrid is implementing a very drastic squad overhaul. Coach Diego Simeone and his staff are actively paving the way to bring Romero to play in La Liga as soon as possible.
Specifically, the Spanish team is close to completing the sale of Thiago Almada to River Plate for €20 million. Notably, Atletico is also in the process of offloading Nahuel Molina to Roma and is ready to let Matteo Ruggeri join Aston Villa. These deals not only free up wage bill space but also provide crucial funding for them to prepare an opening offer of around €30 million to Tottenham.
Although Tottenham's asking price of €40 million remains a challenge, Atletico Madrid are closer than ever to reaching that amount thanks to the revenue generated from player sales. Furthermore, Cristian Romero himself is reportedly having changed his mind and now considers a move to La Liga his top priority.