Journalist confirms Arsenal failed with shock move for Tottenham player

In recent weeks, talk about potential outgoings at Tottenham Hotspur has taken centre stage.

A handful of players have left on loan or permanent deals; we’ve covered them all in detail and won’t revisit them here.

One saga that continues to drag on is the one involving Cristian Romero, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid.

And now, reports from Italy claim Arsenal actually tried to sign the Argentine defender before Atletico Madrid came to the fore.

Arsenal tried to sign Romero from Tottenham

Last month, we reported Arsenal’s shock interest in Romero and likened it to the Sol Campbell move more than two decades ago.

This one would arguably be worse than Campbell as we’re in the digital age, so social media would have been a cesspool of hatred and abuse if Romero crossed the North London divide.

#Romero: contatto diretto in questi minuti tra #AtleticoMadrid (pista svelata da @Glongari a inizio luglio) e #Tottenham. L’Atletico sta aumentando offerta sul cartellino (era partito basso) per arrivare almeno ai 40 milioni chiesti dagli Spurs. L’#Inter, in contatto anche nelle… https://t.co/5clNMLHPY3

— Alfredo Pedullà (@AlfredoPedulla) August 6, 2026

And now, Alfredo Pedulla has confirmed that Arsenal entered the race but chose not to press ahead with a transfer due to their rivalry with Tottenham.

Romero was initially set to join Inter Milan, but now Atletico Madrid are favourites and are expected to get the deal over the line.

For Tottenham, this saga has dragged on for too long now. As long as their asking price is met, they won’t really care where Romero goes, unless it’s Arsenal.