According to a report from SportItalia (as relayed by TEAMtalk), Barcelona are now set to enter the race for Tottenham Hotspur target Cristian Romero.
Fabio Paratici has evidently been locked in negotiations with Atalanta for Romero over the past couple of weeks and it was reported over the weekend that Tottenham were confident of getting the deal for the Argentine over the line.
However, the talks have been thrown into doubt over recent days, with Gazzetta dello Sport reporting that Tottenham have to ‘up the ante’ to meet Atalanta’s £47m asking price.
The Guardian claimed on Tuesday that the North Londoners have no intention of paying the aforementioned price for Romero and are eyeing the likes of Takehiro Tomiyasu, Kurt Zouma and Nikola Milenkovic as alternatives to the Atalanta star.
It now looks like the Lilywhites’ pursuit of Romero may have just become even harder, with SportItalia revealing that Barcelona could look to hijack the deal.
The report reveals that the Catalan giants have been watching the 23-year-old’s situation for some time and could be about to make on offer over the next few days.
It is explained that Atalanta are hopeful that a bidding war could drive up the centre-back’s price.
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In fact, Italian journalist Gianluigi Longari has even claimed that Barca have already made their opening offer for Romero.
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We have to take this report with a pinch of salt as it is difficult to see where Barca can get the money from. The Catalan club are struggling to get rid of their deadwood and trim their wage bill. It will be a major surprise to see them shelling out £45m-£50m on Romero.
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