Tottenham Hotspur star Cristian Romero is reportedly ‘very open’ to joining Arsenal following the signing of Bruno Guimaraes.
On Saturday afternoon, Arsenal formally announced the signing of Guimaraes, who has become their fourth summer arrival after Piero Hincapie, Illan Meslier and Christos Tzolis.
Guimaraes, who was in the final two years of his contract at Newcastle, has finally joined Arsenal for around £75m following a long negotiation with their Premier League rivals.
Ahead of this summer, Arsenal made it a priority to sign a new midfielder, and they turned to Guimaraes after Sandro Tonali proved too costly.
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On signing Guimaraes, Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta said: “We are delighted to welcome Bruno Guimaraes to our club.
“Bruno is a player with a great mentality and great quality, who will bring strong leadership to our squad.
“With Bruno joining us, we are further strengthening the heart of our team. As we have all seen, Bruno can play as a defensive midfielder and as a box-to-box player. He combines quality with quantity, and has provided goals and assists for his team every year.
“Bruno will allow Mikel to further develop our playing style and will also increase our internal competitiveness, which is essential for maintaining the standards required when we are aiming to win major trophies.”
Cristian Romero keen on joining Arsenal from arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur
Arsenal will not stop here because it has been widely reported that they also want to bring in a winger and a centre-back before this transfer window closes.
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Arsenal are back to the drawing board for an alternative forward after missing out on Vinicius Junior and Morgan Rogers, while they are also in the market for a centre-back to fill the void left by the injured William Saliba.
And in recent days, it has emerged that they are plotting a move for Tottenham defender Romero, who has also attracted interest from Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Inter Milan.
Before Arsenal announced Guimaraes’ arrival, Gunners transfer reporter HandsofArsenal on X revealed that the midfielder’s arrival would be confirmed on Saturday, while he also shed light on Romero’s stance about joining the Premier League holders.
They said on X: ‘The expectation is for Arsenal to announce the signing of Bruno G today.
‘The player has already begun training at Sobha.
‘The club is still in the market to reinforce. Regardless of if we sign Romero, the player was / is VERY open to joining us.’
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However, Fabrizio Romano stated on Saturday morning that Romero is mainly in talks with Atletico Madrid.
“What’s the situation with Cuti Romero? Inter at the moment are far away. For Inter it’s a very complicated deal because of several reasons, also because Inter are not selling players and so at the moment they cannot proceed,” Romano said.
“Atletico Madrid are preparing a new official bid to Tottenham. They already sent a bid to Spurs and they are preparing a second proposal.
“But Atletico Madrid, at the moment, still don’t have any agreement closed with Cuti Romero. They are talking with Cuti Romero. They are talking with the agent, but still no agreement closed.
“So now, if Barcelona want to enter in the Cuti Romero race, they still have space. They still have the possibility.
“But this will depend on Barca. Now, Cuti Romero is in negotiations with Atletico Madrid as a priority. So this one will depend on Barca, whether they want to enter or not.”
