Cristian Romero moves closer to sealing £34m move to Atletico Madrid with Diego Simeone on the cusp of seeing off Arsenal, Inter and Barcelona for Spurs captain

Atletico Madrid are moving closer to agreement with Tottenham over a £34million deal to sign Cristian Romero.

The clubs are still understood to be a few million apart on the fixed aspect of the fee and bonus structure still need to be decided.

Atletico with the pull of coach Diego Simeone are understood to be Romero’s preference over the other clubs that have been involved.

The Argentine has been the subject of interest from Inter Milan, Spurs’ fierce rivals Arsenal and Barcelona.

Atletico are in the throes of selling defender Nahuel Molina to Roma, and he has arrived in Italy ahead of completing his £14.5m move, while Aston Villa are finalising a £16m deal for Atletico left-back Matteo Ruggeri.

Daily Mail Sport understands Premier League champions Arsenal had contacted the agents of the Spurs captain over what the deal would be, but Tottenham are unaware of the Gunners’ interest and would be unwilling to consider selling 28-year-old Romero to their north London rivals.

Daily Mail Sport understands the pull of Diego Simeone has seen Atletico lead the race

Inter have agreed a £34m fee with Spurs but have not agreed on personal terms.

The central defender is free to leave Spurs for the right price after the club bolstered their defensive ranks earlier in the transfer window.

The additions of Marcos Senesi on a free transfer and John Paul van Hecke from Brighton for £52m mean Roberto de Zerbi is well stocked.

But the idea of selling the club captain to their arch rivals Arsenal would be deemed completely unacceptable by Spurs fans and the club would not countenance it.

Arsenal will be without William Saliba, who suffered a back injury at the World Cup, for months and are considering reinforcements at the back.

But Romero appears destined for a move away from the Premier League having spent the last five years at Tottenham after joining from Atalanta.

He was at the heart of Lionel Scaloni’s defence for the Argentina side who beat England in the World Cup semi-final before suffering a 1-0 defeat by Spain in the final last month.

Romero has come close to leaving Spurs before, notably after Ange Postecoglou departed.

He suffered a knee injury during the club’s dramatic run-in at the end of last season in which they fought off relegation.

Romero left the pitch in tears during a 1-0 defeat by Sunderland but De Zerbi managed to keep Spurs up without his captain, who recovered in time to play for Argentina.

He came under fire for celebrating in the faces of opposition players during the World Cup and also snubbed Donald Trump after the final defeat, ignoring the US President after collecting his runners-up medal.

After receiving his medal around his neck from Infantino, Romero snubbed Trump by not shaking his hand, instead he walked straight past him to join his team-mates.