Inter agreed £34m for Romero six days ago, and Atletico are now moving in

Inter Milan agreed a fee with Tottenham for Cristian Romero at the start of August and have spent every day since failing to get his signature on a contract. That gap is now the entire story, because Atletico Madrid have noticed it as well.

The deal Inter thought was done

Tottenham and Inter settled on a fee of about £34.2m on 1 August, roughly €40m, for a defender who captains the side and who had already told the club he wanted to leave. Roberto De Zerbi did not try to talk him round. By the standards of a modern transfer, the hard part was supposed to be over.

It was not. Romero and Inter still have not closed personal terms. Six days is nothing in a summer window, but it is plenty for a player who would rather be somewhere else to sit on his hands, and Romero has never hidden his preference for Spain. Barcelona were interested earlier in the window until their finances made the conversation academic.

Simeone has wanted him for years

Fabrizio Romano reported on 5 August that Atletico are preparing a formal offer, with the package expected to match what Inter agreed. Marca have since put the opening figure lower, around €30m. The two reports disagree on the money and agree on the direction, and the direction is the part Inter should be worried about.

Diego Simeone’s interest in Romero is not a new thing. An Argentine centre-half who defends like he has a personal grievance with the striker is close to a job description at Atletico, and Romero, by every account coming out of Spain, is receptive.

The complication is money. Atletico have spent heavily this summer and need sales before anything else goes out. Nahuel Molina’s move to Roma is effectively done at around €18m, most of it fixed with the rest in bonuses. Aston Villa have agreed a deal worth up to €24m for Matteo Ruggeri, whose route to the team narrowed the moment Atletico signed Alejandro Grimaldo from Bayer Leverkusen, though the player has not yet approved that one. Until the money lands, the Romero bid is a plan rather than an offer.

Spurs have already replaced him

Whatever happens next, Tottenham are not the club with the problem. They took Marcos Senesi on a free from Bournemouth and paid Brighton £52m for Jan Paul van Hecke, who had a year left on his contract and had played under De Zerbi there. Kevin Danso, Micky van de Ven, Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies are all still on the books.

That is a lot of centre-back for a squad that also broke its transfer record twice this summer, on Mateus Fernandes and then Sandro Tonali. Spurs priced Romero’s exit in months ago. Selling your captain is never comfortable, but they have been building for this since June.

Inter cannot afford to lose this one twice

Inter’s problem is sharper. Francesco Acerbi and Stefan de Vrij both walked out as free agents when their contracts expired at the end of June, along with Yann Sommer and Matteo Darmian, and Cristian Chivu is rebuilding a defence that lost its two most experienced men in a single afternoon. Romero was the answer to that, not a bonus on top of it.

If Atletico get a bid in before Romero signs anything, Inter go back to a shortlist they have already been through once. Trevoh Chalobah and Evan Ndicka have both been mentioned, and neither comes cheap. Losing a player whose fee you have already agreed, to a club offering similar money and a league he would rather play in, is the kind of fortnight that gets a sporting director asked difficult questions.

None of this is signed. Romero is a Tottenham player and stays one until somebody actually pays. But the window shuts on 1 September, and Inter have now burned six days of it waiting for a yes.

Keep up with the summer transfer window