"Hermano, thank you for everything, brother, what a player you are!" Micky van de Ven's Instagram tribute said everything — Tottenham's squad is being pulled apart this summer, and the goodbyes are getting harder to ignore.
Cristian Romero's £34 million move to Atlético Madrid was confirmed on Saturday, ending a five-year relationship with Spurs that began on loan from Atalanta in 2021. He leaves having made 156 appearances, scored 13 goals, and — crucially — lifted a trophy. Diego Simeone gets a proven top-flight defender in his prime. At 28, on a five-year deal, Romero walks into the Metropolitano as a statement signing.
What makes the exit sting is the timing. Romero had been briefly linked with Arsenal — a move that would have been genuinely toxic given his status at the club. Atlético is a far cleaner narrative. He wanted out, Roberto De Zerbi acknowledged as much publicly, and there was no dragging it out.
Spence to Inter compounds the problem
Djed Spence's £25.6 million switch to Inter Milan arrived almost simultaneously. The full-back arrived at Spurs from Middlesbrough in 2022 for around £20 million and never quite nailed down a starting spot in North London — but a strong World Cup campaign in North America clearly shifted the market's opinion of him. Inter don't spend that kind of money on passengers.
Van de Ven, 25, posted farewell messages to both on Instagram stories. To Spence: "What a guy and top player, go kill it over there, brother." Short and warm. These weren't performative social media gestures — they read like someone who actually played alongside them.
Romero's farewell video was something else entirely. "I defended this shirt with pride and with all my heart," he said. "I leave with a heart full of memories and enormous pride." Five seasons, one trophy, and a fanbase that genuinely loved him. Whatever De Zerbi is building at Spurs, it now needs a new defensive cornerstone — and that search just got more expensive given what Atlético paid.
- Romero to Atlético Madrid: £34 million, five-year deal
- Spence to Inter Milan: £25.6 million
- Romero's Spurs record: 156 appearances, 13 goals, 7 assists
- Spence arrived from Middlesbrough in 2022 for approximately £20 million
Spurs' defensive odds for next season deserve scrutiny right now. Losing your captain and a World Cup-performing full-back in the same weekend is the kind of squad disruption that takes months to absorb, not weeks.
