The New York Times

There will never be one truth about Cristian Romero’s time at Tottenham.

He has been a leader, a liability and a talisman. In five or 10 years, there will still be an argument about who this complex, compelling and confounding character was.

There are complications, of course, but there is also tribute to be paid to a player about to move to Atletico Madrid after both clubs agreed a €40million (£34.1m; $46m) deal.

Romero’s finest performance for the club arguably came on its biggest night. Son Heung-min was the captain in Bilbao in May 2025, when Ange Postecoglou’s side beat Manchester United 1-0 to win the Europa League, but Romero led the team out at San Mames, wore the armband for most of the game, and was the soul of a performance that nobody will ever forget.

Would Spurs have won that game without him? It’s inconceivable. Romero could be an erratic player. He seemed to lose concentration easily. But a few times each season, when in rare equilibrium, he could perform at an unfathomably high level.

Those games were rare, but Bilbao was one of them. The quality of his defending — his tackling, his heading, his blocking — was of a remarkably high standard. From the kick-off onwards, when he barged into Manchester United’s half to gather the players in that pre-match huddle, he got right under Manchester United’s skin and stayed there.

Spurs have often been callow in the modern era. In the biggest games, they have tiptoed onto the pitch and played as if being there was enough. How wonderful it was to see the way Romero carried himself that night, with an abrasive energy that almost had Harry Maguire swinging punches at full time.

That was Cristian Romero. One of the versions, at least.

This is a confusing legacy. Most simply, because Romero was not always there. In his five seasons, he appeared in more than 27 Premier League games just once. Between injury and suspension, he was never someone who could be depended upon to be in the side. And when he was, who knew what kind of performance he would give.

Romero could lock Erling Haaland entirely out of a game. He would kick him early, smash him to the floor in the first five minutes, and then keep him there, cowed, for the rest of the match. But he could also be caught hopelessly out of position by an utterly mundane team or gift a chance to some five-goal-a-season forward.

He was both of those players. He could be absolutely magnificent or utterly baffling, sometimes in the same half of a match.

Then there was Argentina, and the suspicion that playing for his country mattered a lot more to him. Maybe it did? Maybe it’s fine if so? Romero was part of a generation of Argentinian internationals who had a devotion to helping Lionel Messi win a World Cup. It was a rare, unique situation. But among those who wanted to see it, it created a sense that he never belonged to Tottenham in the way that other players did. Or even wanted to.

The bigger issue, often, was in the optics and the contradictions they showed. In January, as Spurs plunged towards relegation, he appeared to criticise the club’s decision makers on Instagram, accusing them “only showing up when things are going well”.

He verbalised what many felt at the time and his name was sung home and away in the weeks after. All together, always. But by April, he was making that meagre effort to prevent Nottingham Forest’s second goal in that devastating 3-0 home defeat. A month later, in the final week of the season, before safety was secured, he was rehabbing his knee injury back home in Argentina, as a terrified squad fought for their lives.

He had leave to do it. He did nothing wrong and whether he always intended to, or had a last-minute change of heart, he flew back to London for the final Sunday of the season and was in the stadium for the Everton game. At a time of incredible sensitivity, the decision to return to Argentina was always going to be provocative.

Was he right? Was he wrong? Had everyone just lost the capacity to be rational? Fans are entitled to their own perspective. But then, now, and always, there have been so many to choose from with Romero. He has always inspired such conflicting emotions that nobody could ever be certain what they felt for him.

Maybe it could have been different. Romero frequently seemed provoked by the club’s weaknesses and whatever imperfections lay in the coach of the time. What if he had played for Mauricio Pochettino, beside Toby Alderweireld or Jan Vertonghen? It’s natural to wonder, but pointless to dwell upon.

He’s Atletico Madrid’s riddle now.

The new Premier League season is almost upon us and we want to gauge the mood among fans of every club going into the 2026-27 campaign.

It is the time of year when a new signing can mean optimism abounds. Alternatively, a less-than-impressive pre-season and a lack of transfer activity can leave supporters fearing the worst.

Let us know how you feel about your club’s prospects this season via our simple poll below and, as has become tradition, George Caulkin will analyse the results and report back with The Athletic’s hope-o-meter, a not particularly scientific reflection of fans’ hopes and fears for the coming season.

Tottenham Hotspur have reached an agreement to sell captain Cristian Romero to Atletico Madrid for €40million (£34.1m; $46m).

The deal will also include a 15% sell-on fee. Romero, 28, has agreed personal terms with the La Liga side and will complete his move pending a medical.

The Athletic reported last week that Atletico had renewed their interest in Romero, who had also attracted interest from Serie A champions Inter and Premier League champions Arsenal.

The Athletic previously reported that Romero is likely to depart Spurs this summer. He was not involved in the club’s pre-season tour of Australia and New Zealand after starting in seven matches for Argentina at the World Cup, including in the final defeat to Spain on July 19.

Romero was named as Tottenham’s captain for the 2025-26 season by previous head coach Thomas Frank. He appeared 32 times, recording six goals and four assists. The defender signed a new four-year contract last year, extending his terms until 2029.

The centre-back has previously appeared to be critical of the Spurs hierarchy. After the January defeat to Bournemouth, Romero apologised to the club’s supporters, while appearing to point blame for their situation towards senior figures.

“At times like this, it should be other people coming out to speak, but they don’t as has been happening for several years now,” he said. “They only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies. We’ll stay here, working, sticking together and giving our all to turn things around.”

Weeks later, Romero said his side’s lack of squad options was “disgraceful” for their 2-2 draw with Manchester City, in the wake of an injury crisis.

Romero has suffered back-to-back seasons disrupted through injury. His 2025-26 campaign was curtailed by a knee problem. The previous season, Romero was restricted to just 26 appearances, missing over two months with a hamstring injury.

Romero joined Spurs from Atalanta in the summer of 2021. An initial one-year loan was made permanent in 2022 for €53m, with the Argentinian centre-back making 123 Premier League appearances for the club. He was also part of the side that won the Europa League in 2025 and was appointed captain ahead of the 2025-26 season.

He started in all but one of Argentina’s matches at this summer’s World Cup, and scored in the round-of-16 victory against Egypt.

Spurs have signed two centre-backs this summer, adding Marco Senesi on a free transfer after his Bournemouth contract expired and signing Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton & Hove Albion in a £52m deal.

What does this mean for Tottenham?

Analysis by Jay Harris

This is probably the best possible outcome for Spurs.

It has been apparent for a long time that they needed to move on from Romero and, crucially, they have agreed to sell him to Atletico before the new season starts.

If the defender had returned to first-team training following an extended break after his involvement with Argentina at the World Cup, the uncertainty around his future would have been an unwelcome distraction. Atletico have been courting Romero for over a year and are a far better option than the prospect of selling him to rivals Arsenal.

Some people will be wondering why Spurs could not command a bigger fee for their captain who only signed a new long-term contract last year and has won multiple trophies at international level. The 28-year-old’s injury history and poor disciplinary record would have worked against Spurs during negotiations.

Romero leaves a complicated legacy behind in north London. Romero’s centre-back partnership with Micky van de Ven was crucial to Spurs winning the Europa League in the 2024-25 season, which was their first piece of silverware in 17 years.

Romero was nearly faultless in the knockout stages of the competition and rallied his team-mates at half-time in the final against Manchester United. Over the last 12 months, he has popped up with some crucial goals, including an overhead kick in stoppage time to rescue a point against Newcastle United.

However, there have been six red cards since he initially joined them on loan from Atalanta in August 2021 which is more than any other Premier League player in that period, while he criticised the club’s senior figures on multiple occasions via social media.

Spurs have already moved on by buying Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton earlier this summer. Romero’s dramatic five-year spell with Spurs finally appears to be over.

What does this mean for Arsenal?

Analysis by James McNicholas

Improbable as Tottenham agreeing to sell Romero to their north London neighbours may seem, Romero was a target for Arsenal.

He has a good relationship with Mikel Arteta’s assistant, Gabriel Heinze, and Arsenal admired his quality, versatility and strength of personality. A deal was never particularly realistic, however. Spurs were insistent throughout that they would not negotiate with Arsenal for Romero.

With the player now set to join Atletico Madrid, Arsenal’s search for defensive reinforcements continues. Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa remains a target, although the clubs are still some way apart on valuation.

Villa value Konsa at around £60 million. With the end of the window approaching, are Arsenal prepared to get closer to that figure to secure a deal?

It was only four weeks ago that Tottenham Hotspur team-mates Djed Spence and Cristian Romero were on opposing sides in a World Cup semi-final, competing on behalf of their countries for the right to face Spain in the final.

Both players played well, Romero shackling Jude Bellingham for much of the evening, Spence producing a famous recovery tackle on Giuliano Simeone when England were 1-0 up.

While it was Argentina who made it through — and their club colleague Pedro Porro’s Spain who won the whole thing — both Spence and Romero clearly had good World Cups, helping their respective nations get to the business end of the competition. Both players left the United States with different colour medals from the gold version they will have dreamt of on arrival, but with reputations enhanced.

But now, in the middle of August, with the new Premier League season just around the corner, both Spence and Romero find themselves in the same position. It is an unusual one for a Tottenham first-teamer to be in, as the club decide whether to sell them before the games begin next weekend.

There has been speculation about the duo’s futures for some time. That in itself is nothing new. But with Spurs’ first Premier League game — away at Brentford — on Saturday week, it is coming up to decision time for these two players.

Inter moved into pole position to sign Spence this week, entering into talks with Spurs over a €30million deal. The reigning Italian champions were also in for Romero — The Athletic reported last week that they even verbally agreed the principle of a €40m fee with Tottenham — but they have now been joined in competition by Atletico Madrid. Romero has also been of interest to Arsenal.

As it stands, nothing has been agreed in either case, but it has increasingly felt this week that the direction of travel has been towards a sale for both players.

If that turns out to be so, and if Spence and Romero do go before the September 1 deadline, then it would be one of the most significant moments of the post-Daniel Levy era. Not simply for the importance of the departing players, or what the money would allow Spurs to do, but for the strategic pivot it would imply.

We have already seen this month that Tottenham have changed their attitude to buying players.

That much is clear from the fees spent on Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali. They have also changed their attitude to salaries, as proven by the big wages to attract those two players, as well as to get established ones in Porro and Micky van de Ven to re-commit to new contracts.

If Romero and Spence are sold this month, it will show that Tottenham have transformed their attitude to selling, too.

The club have traditionally had a complicated relationship with this aspect of the transfer market. They were never going to be the apex predator of the football food chain. And yet while some clubs of a similar size were happy to keep selling players to re-invest, Tottenham generally only did so with first-team players in very specific circumstances.

If they had a top talent who was sought after by a bigger, richer club than them — that is to say, if Spurs had all the leverage in the negotiation — then Levy would exploit that position and sell for a big fee. Dimitar Berbatov to Manchester United, Luka Modric and then Gareth Bale to Real Madrid, Kyle Walker to Manchester City, Harry Kane to Bayern Munich and so on.

The fees that Levy was able to extract in part justified the policy.

Real Madrid paid a world record €100million (£85m) for Bale in 2013. Four years later, Walker became the joint most expensive defender of all time when he moved to City. And three years ago, Spurs got a fee equivalent to the Bale one for Kane, even though he only had one year left on his contract.

The problem was not the big deals. It was everything else.

While they were generally happy to sell top players for top money, Levy did not want to do deals just to get players out of the door. There was a limit to how much Tottenham wanted to be seen as a ‘selling club’. There was a degree of status-anxiety here, as Spurs tried to prove to the world they would not be pushed around.

This reluctance to sell players beyond the big-ticket deals — Bale, Walker, Kane — had a profound strategic impact on the club. It meant that the process of refreshing Mauricio Pochettino’s team, moving on tired, old players, replacing them with new, vibrant ones, was so hard to do. There was neither the space nor the money for new recruits. Staff said privately that it was like a swimming pool that needed to have the water refreshed. Without change, it would go stale.

During the course of those years, so many opportunities were missed to sell players — beyond Walker — to generate money to refresh the team.

United wanted Eric Dier in 2017, the same summer that Chelsea wanted Danny Rose, and would have paid £50million for him. Jose Mourinho wanted Toby Alderweireld at United the following year. Napoli wanted Lucas Moura in the summer of 2019 after his Ajax hat-trick. Big fees could have been generated for Dele Alli or Christian Eriksen if Tottenham had played their cards right.

But in almost every case, Spurs failed to sell at the right time. They missed the opportunity to move players on when they were at their peak and there was a genuine market for them.

It felt as if Tottenham would only sell under what you might call ‘Gareth Bale conditions’. They would never compromise to move someone on apart from that. (Kieran Trippier going to Atletico in 2019 is a rare counter-example.)

This meant that a whole generation of players — Walker and Kane aside — stayed far too long, and left for practically nothing. Rose and Lucas on free transfers, Dier on an initial loan made permanent, Dele on a performance-related move to Everton, Alderweireld for Qatar, Eriksen for Inter on a cut-price deal with only six months left on his contract, Erik Lamela in part-exchange with Bryan Gil.

Hundreds of millions of pounds of potential market value was allowed to diminish to practically nothing.

Ever since Levy’s dismissal as chairman almost a year ago, one of the key points for improvement that the club hierarchy have spoken about has been the importance of selling players, especially in the new era of financial regulation.

There was some consternation when Brennan Johnson went to Crystal Palace in January for £35million, but this was precisely the sort of deal that Tottenham never used to do. Johnson was not in the team, the money was on the table, and his valuation was probably more likely to go down from there rather than up. It made sense. And when CEO Vinai Venkatesham spoke to the Fans Advisory Board in June, he pointed to that transfer as an example of the attitude to sales the club want.

If Romero and Spence go in the next couple of weeks — and nothing has happened yet — you could look at those deals as comparable to Johnson’s departure. There will be a lot of people who will say that Spurs should keep the players, or push for more money, rather than letting them go so easily.

But that attitude — allowing the perfect to be the enemy of the good — has been precisely Tottenham’s problem over the years. Sometimes, the right answer is just to shake hands, take the money and use it to refresh your squad.

This was the part of the transfer market Spurs struggled with for so long.

Maybe, depending on what happens with Spence and Romero, they have found a new approach.

The Lewis family, who own Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, are exploring a bid for the NBA Europe team in London.

It would represent a foray into other sports for the family, who have owned Spurs since Joe Lewis acquired a controlling stake in 2001. The Lewis family own 70.12 per cent of ENIC, Tottenham’s parent company, which in turn owns 87.62 per cent of the club. They are primarily represented by Vivienne Lewis, Joe Lewis’s daughter, and Nick Beucher, Vivienne’s son-in-law and co-chief executive officer of Tavistock Group.

Joe Lewis ceased to be a person of “significant control” at Tottenham in October 2022. In 2024, he pled guilty to insider trading and was fined $5million by a New York judge, before being given a presidential pardon by President Donald Trump the following year.

The Lewises are part of a consortium alongside two other families with experience in sports investment. One of these is the Checketts family, who have previously owned MLS team Real Salt Lake and the NHL’s St. Louis Blues. David Checketts, a businessman and executive from Salt Lake City, Utah previously served as general manager of the Utah Jazz and president of the New York Knicks in the NBA.

Also part of the proposed bid is the Eccles family, who, like the Checketts family, are investors in English second-tier team Burnley and Spanish club Espanyol, and also invested in venues, facilities and events for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, and the upcoming 2034 games in Utah.

NBA Europe, organised by the NBA and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), is a proposed basketball league made up of European franchises that is slated to begin in 2027. It is set to be made up of 12 permanent teams, plus four sides that qualify on an annual basis.

London has been earmarked as one of the league’s 12 target cities, alongside Manchester, Paris, Lyon, Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Munich, Athens, Istanbul, Rome and Milan.

The Athletic reported that American technology billionaire Nikesh Arora, leader of consortium that purchased English cricket’s most lucrative franchise in the Hundred competition, has assembled a consortium of investors prepared to offer more than $1billion (£740million) for the London team.

Battersea Power Station’s undeveloped estate has also been touted as a potential arena for the franchise.

Under the Lewis family, Tottenham have regularly recorded finishes in the top half and top six of the Premier League, qualifying for the Champions League through their league position on six occasions and finishing as high as second in 2017. However, silverware has been hard to come by, with just two trophies during ENIC’s tenure: the 2007-08 League Cup and the 2024-25 Europa League.

The team finished 17th last season for the second year in a row, narrowly avoiding relegation, prompting the family to issue a rare statement.

“The problems we found were deeper than we realised and were allowed to build over the last few years,” the family said at the end of the season.

“We know that has eroded trust and we have to win that back. As owners, we take ultimate responsibility for the situation in which the club finds itself.”

Tottenham Hotspur are in talks with Inter Milan over deal to sell Djed Spence to the Italian side for a fee in the region of €30million (£25.6m).

A source close to the situation, granted anonymity to protect relationships, said Spence is keen on a move to the Serie A champions, who are in the market for a new right back after the sale of Denzel Dumfries to Real Madrid.

Spence is capable of playing at left or right-back but Destiny Udogie and Spain’s World Cup winner Pedro Porro are Spurs head coach Roberto De Zerbi’s first-choice options in those positions.

Andy Robertson’s arrival from Liverpool earlier this summer has given Udogie extra competition at left-back, along with 20-year-old Brazilian prospect Souza. Archie Gray prefers to play in midfield but can provide cover for Porro on the right. Spence’s gametime could be limited next season as a result, especially as Spurs are not in any European competition.

The Athletic reported earlier this summer that Everton were interested in signing the 26-year-old but Inter are now negotiating with Spurs.

Spence joined the north London side from Middlesbrough in the summer of 2022 in a deal worth up to £20m but was labelled a “club signing” and overlooked by then head coach Antonio Conte. The full-back then spent 18 months on loan with Rennes, Leeds United and Genoa, before finally making his first start for the club under Ange Postecoglou.

Spence became a valued member of the first-team squad during the 2024-25 campaign under Postecoglou and helped Spurs to win the Europa League. Postecoglou was sacked by Spurs last summer but Spence was rewarded with a new long-term contract in August 2025 and made his debut for England the following month. He remained an important player under Thomas Frank, Igor Tudor and De Zerbi.

Spence’s form over the last two years led to his inclusion in England’s squad for the World Cup where he made some crucial contributions as Thomas Tuchel’s side reached the semi-finals.

‘Fans would be torn over Spence’s departure’

Analysis by Jay Harris

Spence’s career at Spurs has never been straightforward. He joined Spurs from Middlesbrough after a fantastic season on loan at Nottingham Forest who he helped earn promotion to the Premier League.

However, he was labelled a “club signing” by Conte and for a couple of years it felt like the move would never work out as he spent time on loan in Italy, France and the second tier of English football.

Spence became a cult hero during the 2024-25 campaign after Spurs suffered an injury crisis. Postecoglou gave Spence a chance and he responded by producing excellent defensive performances and offering a threat with overlapping runs.

Spence was rewarded with a new contract at the beginning of the 2025-26 season and impressed in Spurs’ penalty shootout defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup. His form dropped off at times last season and there was an incident in November when he appeared to ignore and walk straight past then head coach Thomas Frank. Frank revealed a few days later that Spence had apologised.

Despite sharing game-time with Udogie and Porro over the second half of the season, Tuchel included Spence in his World Cup squad. Spence popped up with some important cameos, including in England’s semi-final defeat to Argentina when he chased after Guiliano Simeone and pulled off an incredible sliding tackle.

Spurs fans would be torn over Spence’s departure. Spence’s versatility is invaluable while the proposed fee of €30m seems cheap for somebody who started in a World Cup semi-final last month and still has years left on his contract.

Charlton Athletic vs Tottenham Hotspur Box Score - August 25, 2026 - The Athletic  The New York Times

Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven has signed a new contract with the club.

The Athletic reported on Thursday that the centre-back was close to agreeing a new long-term deal, with his previous terms set to expire in 2029.

Van de Ven is the third Tottenham player this summer to sign a new contract after right-back Pedro Porro and goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky both renewed with the club.

The 25-year-old made 45 appearances in all competitions last season, scoring seven goals, as Spurs narrowly avoided relegation and finished 17th in the Premier League. He captained the side on 18 occasions last season in the absences of Cristian Romero and James Maddison in the starting lineup.

“I’ve always loved Spurs, from the first day I stepped in here. I love the club, I love the fans and I’ve developed really well here,” Van de Ven said after his new contract was announced.

“It’s clear the direction the club wants to go in and I want to be a part of it. I’m excited about what’s to come.”

Tottenham head coach Roberto De Zerbi described Van de Ven as “one of the best centre-backs in Europe”.

“He has the qualities, mentality and ambition that we want at Tottenham Hotspur, and I am very happy that he has decided to continue his journey with the club,” De Zerbi added.

“We are building something strong here, and players like Micky are an important part of that future. His decision to sign a new contract shows his belief in what we are creating together.”

Van de Ven joined Tottenham in August 2023 from German side Wolfsburg in a deal worth £43million (€50m) including add-ons. He has featured 96 times for the north London club, helping the side win the Europa League in 2025 under Ange Postecoglou and ending a run of 17 years without a trophy.

Everton are in talks to sign Brennan Johnson from Crystal Palace in a deal that could see Dwight McNeil move to Selhurst Park.

Johnson and McNeil are set to undergo medicals at their prospective new clubs on Monday.

Johnson, 25, only joined Palace from Tottenham Hotspur in January, while McNeil, 26, has been at Everton since the summer of 2022. The latter was close to a move to Palace in the winter transfer window, before the transfer fell through due to the relevant paperwork not being completed on time.

However, talks between the two clubs are continuing over a move that would see the two wingers complete transfers.

McNeil has one year remaining on his Everton contract while Johnson has been a long-term target for the Merseyside club, dating back to his spell at Nottingham Forest which preceded his move to Tottenham Hotspur.

Johnson joined Palace in a deal worth £35million (€40m; $47m), a then-club record transfer fee, from Spurs earlier this year.

However, the Wales international has failed to make a significant impact at the south London club. He has made 26 appearances, starting 16 games and providing two assists. He was an unused substitute in Palace’s UEFA Conference League final victory over Rayo Vallecano in May.

McNeil, meanwhile, has spent four seasons at Everton since moving from Burnley four years ago. The former England youth international, who previously spent time in Manchester United’s youth academy, has scored 15 goals and provided 19 assists in 128 games for the Merseyside club.

Last season, the versatile winger, who has also been deployed in attacking midfield roles, was deemed surplus to requirements at Everton. McNeil saw a deadline day loan-with-obligation move to Palace collapse late in the window. He had undergone a medical and a deal sheet had been filed, granting Palace a further two hours after the deadline to complete the move, but the final paperwork never arrived. The deadline passed without further communication from the south London club.

McNeil shared a lengthy Instagram post from his partner Megan Sharpley following the collapse of the deadline day deal. The post read: “(To have something) torn away from you at the last second, with absolutely no explanation.

“Going from everything — to radio silence, no phone call, no communication, and be left, broken hearted with nothing but confusion hurts more than I can say.”

As Cristian Romero pulls on the famous red shirt, he hums the words to North London Forever before making his way into the tunnel at the Emirates Stadium.

As the team walk out onto the pitch, Romero high-fives mascot Gunnersaurus, who points to the Argentinian’s brand new ‘Once a Gooner, always a Gooner’ tattoo on his right calf and gives a thumbs up.

Unlikely? FantasyLand? Well, if Arsenal pursue their surprise interest in the 28-year-old centre-back, perhaps not.

Not that Tottenham Hotspur appear willing to consider an approach from their neighbours and bitter rivals for their captain, let alone sanction a sale.

He may have been born in Cordoba, northern Argentina, but after five years at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the notion of Romero being allowed to head the four miles south to the Emirates feels extremely problematic at best, sacrilegious at worst.

And yet, it wouldn’t even be the most controversial transfer in the history of the Arsenal-Spurs rivalry, let alone English football and certainly not globally. It would, though, add to the list of highly-disputed mooted moves that never happened.

“I was asking myself why he’d choose Arsenal when you know how much it’s going to affect your personal life,” ex-Spurs defender Stephen Clemence previously told The Athletic. “That’s what surprised me most about his decision. You turn your whole life upside down with a move like that.”

Sol Campbell was heading towards Tottenham-legend territory. Born a 30-minute drive from White Hart Lane in the Plaistow district of east London, academy graduate Campbell was still a teenager when he made his first-team debut for Spurs and would blossom into one of the Premier League’s best defenders, an England regular, their captain who lifted the League Cup in 1999 and a player who made more than 300 appearances for them.

Then, aged 26, he left on a free transfer to further his career ambitions. Disappointing, yes, but understandable. Inter of Italy and Spain’s Barcelona were possible destinations, but instead Campbell shocked English football and caused unimaginable consternation and fury… by joining Arsenal.

Spurs fans took this very, very well.

They hung an effigy of Campbell from a lamppost on Tottenham High Road, flooded their stadium with ‘Judas’ banners when he returned as an Arsenal player, threw drink bottles and missiles in his direction and endlessly chanted ‘scum’, among many worse words. His new Arsenal team-mates had booed Campbell in training to prepare him for the reception but, well, nothing could quite compare to the abuse he took.

“In hindsight, I’m not sure if I would sign him again, bearing in mind the difficulties he faced,” Arsenal’s then manager Arsene Wenger later said.

It was the most controversial transfer in modern English football history, but one Campbell could justify via the two Premier League titles and three FA Cups he won in six seasons with Arsenal. “Spurs fans have not forgotten it, but it was the best thing I could have done for myself,” Campbell said.

Fellow defender William Gallas may have gone in the opposite direction to Tottenham (also on a free) a few years later, but nothing has compared to Campbell’s move since.

Imagine Bruno Guimaraes ditching this week’s Arsenal move to join Sunderland from Newcastle United instead, or Erling Haaland swapping Manchester City for neighbours United and you’d have something comparable.

The latter switch is not without precedent, though.

Carlos Tevez sort-of swapped Old Trafford for the Etihad Stadium in 2009; he had won two Premier League titles in two seasons having been loaned to United for two years from West Ham but, having elected not to join the club permanently that summer (despite United wanting to sign him), he instead went to City.

This was before their dominance era, so the old noisy neighbours wanted to make a big song and dance out of the deal and erected a huge ‘Welcome to Manchester’ billboard to reflect what would soon be a changing of the guard in the city.

It was a marketing idea laced with genius, although United manager Sir Alex Ferguson didn’t quite see it that way, calling the stunt “stupid and arrogant”.

The Manchester rivalry is fairly hate-filled, so Wayne Rooney’s dalliance with City when he submitted a transfer request at United in 2010 was pretty controversial, ditto Cristiano Ronaldo’s flirtation with the Etihad in 2021 before he returned to Old Trafford after more than a decade with Real Madrid and Juventus. But it’s nothing compared with United’s rivalry with Liverpool.

Players swapping one of those clubs for the other is almost unheard of, to the extent that it has not happened since 1964, when Phil Chisnall moved to Anfield for £25,000 ($34,000) when the rivalry was devoid of the intensity that fills it now.

Even playing for both clubs in a career is rare, with only two men doing it in the Premier League era: Paul Ince (in 1997, two years after leaving United for Inter) and Michael Owen, with the latter seen by many Liverpool fans as a traitor for moving to Old Trafford in 2009, five years after leaving Anfield for Real Madrid.

Only one player has come close to leaving one for the other in modern times, although given United’s staunch opposition to the mooted deal, it perhaps never came that close at all.

Defender Gabriel Heinze wanted to leave in 2007, having lost his place in the team to Patrice Evra. Liverpool were his preferred destination and submitted a bid of £6.8million, which they believed met a minimum-fee release clause.

But United rejected it, and the dispute became bitter. Heinze believed the offer should legally have been accepted, so it went all the way to a Premier League tribunal, which ruled in United’s favour. Heinze never played for them again, eventually joining Real Madrid that same summer.

The Argentina international defender, now a coach at Arsenal, came to regret the saga. He said in 2011: “I was aware of the rivalry, I knew the risk of going from Manchester to Liverpool and what it means. I hope it doesn’t tarnish the way they (supporters) see me and they will remember the three years I had in the team.”

Given how unpopular United are with many other fanbases, moving there can destroy a legacy, like when Robin van Persie joined from Arsenal in 2012, or Alan Smith, who was Leeds United through and through before he broke Yorkshire hearts when signing for the team they despise like no other in 2004.

Steven Gerrard had his Liverpool legacy and connection in mind when he rebuffed Chelsea in 2005 after a long, protracted dalliance with the best team in England at the time, albeit he had just won the Champions League under Rafael Benitez.

“I’d have regretted it for the rest of my life,” Gerrard said recently of moving to Stamford Bridge.

“I went to see my dad and my brother, who are two Liverpool fans, and they completely took all the external out of it and just said, ‘If you go and win two or three Premier Leagues, or a European Cup, with Chelsea or Inter Milan, or Real Madrid, will it be good?’

“And I went, ‘Yeah, of course it will be good, because you’ve won’. They said, ‘But will it be good or better than if you win one more trophy with Liverpool?’ And I said, ‘No, I’d feel better to do it with Liverpool’. They said, ‘Well, just make it all go away’. And it all went away.”

Transfers just do not happen between certain clubs, like Glasgow’s big two Celtic and Rangers, for example, given their deep-seated rivalry which encompasses far more than football.

Rangers famously had an unwritten policy against signing Catholic players, which was smashed in 1989 when former Celtic striker Mo Johnston joined from French club Nantes. It was hugely controversial.

Johnston’s agent Bill McMurdo later said: “After the signing, Maurice and I had security with us 24 hours a day. I had people stay in my house for six months, and Maurice had a minder with him all the time.”

It takes an audacious player to sign for both Celtic and Rangers during their whole career, with Kenny Miller and Steven Pressley among a very small post-Second World War number to have done it.

It’s a similar story with Barcelona and Real Madrid in Spain. Only a handful have moved directly between the clubs in the past 50 years, such as Argentine striker Javier Saviola in 2007 (he joined Madrid on a free transfer after his Barca contract expired) and Spain midfielder (and now Paris Saint-Germain head coach) Luis Enrique, who went the other way in the same circumstances in 1996.

When he returned to Camp Nou in a Madrid shirt, glass whisky bottles were thrown onto the pitch by angry fans, and every time Figo took a corner, the game had to be halted due to the barrage of missiles hurled in his direction.

“When we warmed up and saw that atmosphere, I’d have been happy if the referee decided to call off the game,” then Madrid full-back Roberto Carlos said.

It got worse two years later, when a pig’s head was thrown at Figo during a Barca-Madrid match.

Romero may or may not have it that bad at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as an Arsenal player if he makes this move, but it might be wise not to find out.