Tottenham’s €70m Romero sale is a blessing in disguise as Spurs have UPGRADE lined up

Robin Bairner

• 5 Jul 2025 12:45 BST
• 2 min read

Analysis

Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank could offer the club a quick upgrade in the heart of defence, where Cristian Romero is subject to interest from Atletico Madrid.

FootballTransfers is able to confirm that Genoa centre-back Koni De Winter is an option being studied by Spurs this summer, particularly if Romero does depart the club.

The Argentine is available for €70 million and it is thought that Atletico Madrid are getting close to agreeing to meet Tottenham’s asking price.

The North London side have already been informed that De Winter will be available for €25 million, but they face competition from Bournemouth and Inter Milan for the 23-year-old Belgium international.

Compared

Cristian Romero

D (C)

Tottenham

Cristian Romero

D (C)

Tottenham

VS

Koni De Winter

D (CR)

Genoa

Koni De Winter

D (CR)

Genoa

€60.3M	ETV	€21.4M
€54.3M - €66.3M	ETV Range	€19.3M - €23.6M
27 years old (27 Apr, 1998)	Age	23 years old (12 Jun, 2002)
Argentina	Nationality	Belgium

De Winter is already better than Romero

A highly versatile performer, De Winter is capable of filling in at right-back or in central midfield, but his usual role is in the heart of the defence.

He is a highly rated player by data analytics experts SciSports, who indicate that if he were to sign for Spurs, he would do so as the top centre-back. His SciSkill level is higher than that of Romero, Kevin Danso and Micky van de Ven.

De Winter has improved dramatically over the course of the last six months and has seen his Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) rocket from around €8m at the beginning of 2024 to €25m now. This is the figure that Tottenham have been quoted to sign him for.

Furthermore, SciSports believes that he has a high ceiling and could become a ‘key player’ at Spurs.

The former Juventus youth can be compared in the style of his defending to Arsenal’s William Saliba or even Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi – a player that Spurs have looked at signing in the past.

With Tottenham potentially fetching €70m for Romero, it would make smart business for them to replace him with De Winter, who would offer them an instant upgrade in the heart of their defence and also a massive profit in the transfer market.