Report: Man Utd, Real Madrid & PSG failed with summer moves for Tottenham star

Tottenham Hotspur are reported to have rebuffed summer enquiries from Manchester United, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain for vice-captain Cristian Romero.

The defender is into his fourth year with Spurs, and though he has been criticised for on-field disciplinary issues, he remains among their most consistent performers.

Romero's performances at international level with Argentina, particularly during their 2022 World Cup triumph, have led to the likes of Lionel Messi hailing him as the best defender in the world.

TyC Sports journalist Gaston Edul claims Romero was courted by United, Madrid and PSG over the summer, with all three asking Tottenham of his availability.

However, Spurs knocked back these approaches and refused to even put a price tag on the 26-year-old, such is his importance to head coach Ange Postecoglou.

Romero is close friends with Argentina teammate Lisandro Martinez, whose club United ended up bringing in two new centre-backs over the summer - Lille's Leny Yoro and Bayern Munich's Matthijs de Ligt.

Madrid focused their summer efforts on the free signing of Kylian Mbappe, while they also onboarded Brazil striker Endrick. Long-term injury to David Alaba and the departure of captain Nacho Fernandez meant the European champions were tipped to bring in defensive reinforcements, with Al Nassr's Aymeric Laporte heavily linked, but they did not add another centre-back to their ranks.

PSG continued their recruitment drive focused on bringing younger players with potential as opposed to global superstars. Unlike Madrid, they did sign a new centre-back irrespective of their interest in Romero, welcoming 22-year-old Willian Pacho through the Parc des Princes doors from Eintracht Frankfurt.

Romero is one of only three natural centre-backs still on the books at Tottenham alongside Micky van de Ven and Radu Dragusin, who were both signed within the last year. Left-back Ben Davies is also capable of deputising in the middle too.

READ THE LATEST TRANSFER NEWS & GOSSIP FROM AROUND THE WORLD