Tottenham Hotspur will turn Cristian Romero’s loan move from Atalanta into a permanent one, Fabrizio Romano confirms. Spurs secured an initial obligation to buy agreement while signing the centre-back last summer; the 40 million euros clause will be triggered in the coming days, prolonging the Argentine’s stay at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium until 2026.
Injuries hampered an otherwise brilliant individual season for the 24-year-old central defender, who shone towards the end under Antonio Conte with his team desperate to make it to the Champions League places. Overall, Romero made 30 appearances for the club in his first season and scored one goal.
Romano also confirms Spurs will make Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster their first new signing of the summer.
Forster’s contract at the St Mary’s expires this summer, and he has already reached a complete agreement with the North London outfit to take over the duties of Hugo Lloris’s deputy from Pierluigi Gollini. Meanwhile, Gollini, who Spurs signed on loan from Atalanta, will return to his parent club after making just 10 appearances – none of which were in the Premier League.
Finally, as per Romano, Dejan Kulusevski will remain on loan at Tottenham for another season – despite the club holding the option to buy him from his Juventus contract.
Instead, should the Swede make 20 appearances amounting to a total of 45 minutes in the Premier League and Spurs qualify for the Champions League, an obligation will be triggered, turning his stay permanent. Failing to hit those targets, Spurs will still have the option to buy the player outright if they so desire.
One of the transformative signings of the 2022 January transfer window, Kulusevski became a mainstay in the Tottenham front three alongside Son Heung-min and Harry Kane.
In 20 games, the youngster scored five league goals as Spurs pipped rivals Arsenal to the fourth place in the league.
