What is holding up Cristian Romero's transfer to Inter as £34m Tottenham exit hits snag

Tottenham Hotspur's sale of Cristian Romero to Inter Milan still has some hurdles to jump.

Romero has looked likely to leave Tottenham this summer, despite having only just penned a new four-year contract in N17 last year.

The Argentine international's 2025-26 season was ended early due to an injury sustained against Sunderland on 12 April.

However, he was able to recover his fitness in time to represent Argentina at this summer's World Cup, with his strong performances in North America helping to put his name in the shop window.

Roberto De Zerbi won't want anyone in his Spurs squad that isn't 100 per cent committed to the project he's building, and so the 28-year-old is expected to be moved on before the window shuts.

But, despite him appearing close to finalising a move to Italy, there is an issue in Romero's camp that is seemingly preventing him from completing a transfer at the moment.

What are the two things holding up Cristian Romero's Inter transfer?

Tottenham News has covered reports claiming that Romero has agreed to sign for Inter Milan this summer.

Those reports emerged towards the end of last month, and as such, many Lilywhites fans were hoping this saga would've ended by now.

However, the end isn't yet in sight, as detailed in a report from Italian news outlet Corriere dello Sport.

They claim that negotiations are still underway regarding a £34million transfer to Inter, and that there aren't any problems with this aspect of the deal.

In contrast, it's claimed that a stumbling block has been reached between Inter and Romero's agent, with compromises needing to be found regarding commission and his wages.

So, if these snags are to be cleared and a transfer is completed, would Romero be a starting player for Inter, or might he be better off staying at Tottenham in respect to less competition for minutes?

Why Romero wouldn't be guaranteed starring role with Inter

One of the biggest clubs in Italian football, the defending 2025-26 Serie A champions Inter demand to lift the title again, as their fans do every year.

Despite scoring 89 goals and conceding just 35 last term, that latter number wasn't the best in Serie A, and manager Cristian Chivu has already been bolstering his backline as a result.

Experienced ex-Premier League pair Manuel Akanji and John Stones have both joined Inter this summer, already adding two quality and established central defenders to the pecking order.

That's not taking into account the existing presence of centre-backs such as Carlos Augusto, Yann Aurel Bisseck and Alessandro Bastoni.

So, you can make that five strong centre-backs already in place at Inter, and whilst Chivu does play with three central defenders, that's still an awful lot of players for Romero to come in and compete with.

Of course, Tottenham have several quality players in their ranks at this position too, but Romero is an established leader and star player in N17, and would back himself to continue starting under De Zerbi.

So, a move to Inter would represent a significant gamble for Romero, as if he wasn't to hit the ground running, he could soon find himself starting to get lost in the rotation there.