At several points this summer Cuti Romero looked very likely to be joining Inter Milan, but the club and the player could never agree to personal terms despite the clubs agreeing to a €35m transfer fee. Now we have the opposite situation with Romero’s new suitor, Atletico Madrid. Matteo Moretto tweeted this morning that Atletico Madrid have reached a full agreement with Romero on personal terms. The clubs, however, have not agreed on a transfer fee or conditions of payment.
Atlético Madrid has reached a total agreement with Cuti Romero and is awaiting to finalize the details with Tottenham.
— Matteo Moretto
That would, at first glance, seem to put Cuti straight in the Savinho Zone™ where things get held up interminably as the clubs negotiate and counter-negotiate with each other. That said, I don’t think we’ll get that here. After all, the price discovery has already been set by Inter Milan, so that’s the price I’d expect Cuti to go for when he leaves for Atleti. Now, maybe there’s a slight difference in overall price or a few more clauses in the contract get added or shifted, but we’re already resigned to Cuti leaving for a cut-rate price that’s lower than any of us want or expected, so I doubt that significantly changes. Or maybe it ends up being a loan with a purchase obligation next summer. That also suggests, hopefully, that an agreement can be reached sooner rather than later.
Honestly, as much as I’ve wanted Spurs to keep and reintegrate Cuti into the squad this season, I’ve now accepted that this will not happen. He’s going to leave one way or another, and I’m just going to have to accept it. I don’t necessarily have to LIKE it, but that’s part of being a football fan.
We’ll keep monitoring this story as it develops.
