Manchester United always found themselves facing an uphill challenge pursuing one of their rivals’ star men.
Tottenham Hotspur would have been loathe to lose their £42 million colossus at any rate, let alone to a direct Premier League rival. A club who may yet find themselves in direct competition with Ange Postecoglou’s side for a top-four finish.
So when Manchester United made their interest in Cristian Romero known, Spurs did not even bother naming their price.
The Red Devils could have offered Daniel Levy all the riches in the West and the Tottenham chairman – who Sir Alex Ferguson once labelled more painful than a hip replacement when it came to negotiating transfers – would still not have been tempted to pick up the phone.
Manchester United wanted Tottenham star Christian Romero
According to Argentine reporter Gaston Edul, writing on X, Man United were one of three teams to express their admiration for the 2022 World Cup winner.
The others, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, would also suffer the Spurs silent treatment.
You can see why Man United tried their hand, at least. If you don’t buy a ticket, the saying goes, then do not expect much luck in the raffle.
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Erik ten Hag found himself in need of a new right-sided centre-half after Raphael Varane was allowed to leave on a free transfer. A decision almost immediately justified as he suffered a serious injury just minutes into his Como debut.
Man United looked at a variety of options. A move for Nice’s Jean-Clair Todibo was blocked by UEFA – much to Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s frustration – before they managed to get deals for Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt over the line.
Edul does not say exactly when United made their move for Romero. Though it is a fair assumption that the 13-time Premier League champions had accepted defeat some time before they went all in on De Ligt about halfway through the window.
And with the former Atalanta powerhouse striking up a fearsome partnership with Lisandro Martinez at international level – they starred together throughout Argentina’s victorious Copa America campaign – it makes sense that Man United would try and replicate that success on the club game.
Argentina duo could have been reunited with Lisandro Martinez
The fang-toothed, bloodthirsty Romero justifies the ‘Crazy Wolf’ nickname bestowed upon him by Martinez with every bone-rattling challenge, even if he does often stray beyond the realms of aggression and into recklessness.
Romero, meanwhile, labels Martinez the finest centre-half on the planet.
“He, for me, is by far the best defender in the world,” Romero told Amazon Prime Sport back in September of last year.
Especially after Man United snatched Yoro from under their nose. United themselves, meanwhile, will look to continue their central defensive overhaul into 2025.
This is likely to be the final seasons at Old Trafford for both Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof. But if Levy feels he has no choice but to cash in, one suspects he would be far more comfortable negotiating terms with Real.
As with the deal that took Harry Kane to Bayern Munich back in 2023, an out of sight and out of mind Romero would be a lot less painful for Spurs to deal with than a Romero dragging Man United up towards the Premier League summit alongside his trusty partner-in-crime Martinez.