Cristian Romero is on his way to Atletico Madrid – don’t let the sudden wave of Arsenal rumours fool you.

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Cristian Romero made it very clear towards the end of the season that his intention was to leave Tottenham.

Unlike some of his teammates, he wasn’t persuaded by the arrival of Roberto de Zerbi and then several top players this summer. His intention remains to leave, and a move to Atletico Madrid seemed to be getting close.

But a stunning development today has seen North London rivals Arsenal linked with the Argentine defender. Fabrizio Romano confirmed there was some truth to those rumours in quotes from his Youtube channel which were picked up by TeamTalk:

“On Cuti Romero. I expect Arsenal to sign a centre-back. So, for sure, Arsenal are looking at centre-backs on the market.

“Arsenal spoke to the agents of Cuti Romero. Arsenal asked for information on Cuti Romero.

“The relationship, Arsenal [and] Tottenham, is obviously a complicated relationship. [It is] way easier for Tottenham to give the green light to Atletico Madrid.

“My understanding is that the clear favourites to sign Cuti Romero now are Atletico Madrid.”

The complicated politics of Cristian Romero’s Arsenal links

The Arsenal rumours never sounded convincing. Spurs would never sell to their biggest rivals, especially when there’s a good offer on the table from Atletico.

If anything, it sounds like a leak from the Spurs side to soften the blow of Romero leaving – it poisons the fans against him a little, making it seem like he would have made the move were it available.

Or maybe Arsenal were just on the wind up?