Can Cristian Romero Complete Atlético's Defensive Rebuild?

A signing that took a year to happen

Cristian Romero is an Atlético de Madrid player. The club made it official on 15 August, announcing a five-year contract that runs to June 2031. Neither club has disclosed the fee, but in the reporting around the agreement between the clubs, Sky Sports and others put the package at around €40m including add-ons.

The story goes back to last summer. Atlético moved for Romero then, but Spurs' unwillingness to sell and their valuation killed it. He then signed a new contract to 2029 and the story appeared closed. Yet this summer, with Inter moving first and other names circulating, multiple outlets report that the move Romero pushed for at the end was Atlético. And Diego Simeone, for his part, had kept pushing to sign him. The manager has never hidden his admiration, going as far as calling himself "a big fan" when the sides met in the Champions League. A coach who waited a year to come back for his man, and a player who, with other options on the table, chose to make it happen. Transfers with that kind of throughline are rarer than they should be.

Captain of a sinking ship, and he didn't stay quiet

Romero's final year in north London was surely the hardest of his career. Tottenham lifted the Europa League in May 2025 while finishing 17th in the league in that same season. The following campaign brought no recovery: Spurs fell into the relegation zone in spring and only secured survival on the final day, against Everton.

In the middle of it all, Romero twice went public with his frustration at the club. After a defeat at Bournemouth he wrote on Instagram that "at times like this, it should be other people coming out to speak, but they don't", and although January brought reinforcements in Conor Gallagher and others, an injury-ravaged squad stayed threadbare, and once the window shut he called the shortage "disgraceful". Thomas Frank admitted he "wouldn't have done it" but kept him as captain. Then, with a change of manager having come in between, Romero injured his knee on 12 April against Sunderland and his club season ended with the survival fight still raging.

So Atlético are signing a 28-year-old who spent a year absorbing the collapse of his team from the front. You can read that however you like. But given that saying nothing and collecting his wages was always an option, the fact he kept speaking up, knowing the criticism it would bring, tells you something about his temperament.

Duels, line-breaking passes, and a voice

On the pitch, Romero is a front-foot centre-back. He doesn't sit off and defend the space; he steps in to win the ball the moment the pass is played. At Atalanta he was named Serie A's best defender, and his 96 interceptions in 2020-21 led the entire league; the front-foot defending has not changed in the Premier League.

What matters just as much for Atlético is what he does with the ball. Romero's passing is not about safe sideways circulation; his signature is the pass between the lines. At Spurs he regularly started attacks by carrying and hitting forward passes from the back, and Simeone himself has singled out his ability on the ball. Anyone who has sat through Atlético labouring in slow build-up will understand why the quality of that first pass out of defence is worth getting excited about. For a centre-back he also chips in with goals, seven over the past two seasons.

Then there is the leadership. Romero is a core member of the Argentina side that won the 2022 World Cup and two Copas América, and he has worn the armband at club level. Morten Hjulmand, another summer arrival, captained both Lecce and Sporting. A team with those two organising the spine, one at the back and one in midfield, could feel very different. Selfishly, I hope they never stop talking.

Comfortable in a back three or a back four

One tactical detail that gets overlooked: Romero has played both a back three and a back four at the top level for years. He played on the right of a three at Genoa, made his name in the middle of Gasperini's back three at Atalanta, took the right centre-back role in Conte's 3-4-3 at Spurs, and then held the middle of Postecoglou's high line in a four. Those are wildly different ways of defending, and his level held up in both.

That suits this Atlético. Even with a base 4-4-2, this is a team that, depending on the opponent and the moment, drops its right midfielder all the way in and defends with something close to a five. In a defence built on four but ready to morph into something closer to five out of possession, a centre-back who keeps his reference points in either shape is valuable. With David Hancko able to cover left-back, Marc Pubill doubling at right-back and Romero at home on the right of a three or a four, Simeone can pick the shape to fit the opponent.

The real worry is availability

The reservations deserve their own space. The biggest is availability. Romero has made 58 competitive appearances over the past two seasons by the club's own records. The April knee injury ended his club season; he recovered in time for the World Cup, felt the same knee against Austria during the tournament, and was withdrawn on 70 minutes in the final defeat to Spain. Whether he can be relied on across La Liga, the Champions League and the Copa del Rey is, honestly, unknowable. At today's prices the reported €40m looks like strong value, but only if he can stay on the pitch week after week.

As for discipline: four Premier League red cards, and a card count that has followed him throughout his career. Still, that aggression is the fuel of his defending; strip it out and you have a different, lesser player. The goading of opponents is nothing to celebrate, but let the emotion flow in the right direction.

The pecking order, and Giménez

Romero's arrival reshuffles the centre-back hierarchy. The natural reading is a core of Hancko, Robin Le Normand and Romero, with Pubill covering both roles on the right. The man squeezed out is José María Giménez, thirteen years a servant of the club. Spanish outlets report he has slid down the pecking order and could leave, though Giménez himself says nothing formal has been discussed with the club, so nothing is decided.

My honest position: if he stays and holds up the rotation, that is the best outcome. But the fire and leadership I once expected from Giménez have been hard to find on the pitch lately. Generational change is always a little sad, and what Romero and Hjulmand are bringing is what I always hoped Giménez himself would come to give this team.

The last piece of the defensive rebuild

Line up Atlético's arrivals of the past few years: Le Normand, Hancko, Pubill, and this summer Alejandro Grimaldo and Romero. Put those names side by side and one thing is plain — the back line has been rebuilt in both quality and depth. Simeone's teams were always built on defensive intensity first, with the points stacked on top of that foundation. In recent seasons it was the foundation itself that wobbled.

Romero can be the final piece of that rebuild. The risks are real: his availability is unpredictable, and €40m for a 28-year-old is not the kind of investment you recoup in resale value. But a defender of this level, one who changes the attack with his passing and holds a team together with his voice, chose to come, at this price, of his own will. The expectation outweighs the risk. I cannot wait to see him get his shirt dirty at the Metropolitano.