THE €100M QUESTION: CAN REAL MADRID ACTUALLY TEMPT SPURS TO SELL CRISTIAN ROMERO?
Real Madrid are reportedly ready to offer €100M for Cristian Romero to solve a defensive crisis that has seen them drop to 9th in the UCL.
Tottenham Hotspur have a real dilemma on their hands, with reports out of Spain claiming Real Madrid are about to slap a wild €100 million offer on the table for Cristian Romero. Sounds dramatic, but let’s not get swept up just yet.
Real Madrid is having a rough time. They’re chasing Barcelona by a single point in LaLiga, and just got hammered 4-2 away to Jose Mourinho’s Benfica—enough to knock them out of the Champions League’s top eight and dump them into the play-offs. That stings. Combine that with letting in 12 goals in their last eight Champions League games and losing Eder Militao for the long haul, and it’s no shock that Florentino Perez, Madrid’s president, is getting twitchy.
Spanish outlet Fichajes says Perez has had enough. Between crashing out of the Copa del Rey to Albacete—a team from the second division, no less—and the ongoing defensive mess, Madrid are desperate. Supposedly, Perez wants to go big and throw €100 million at Spurs for Romero, hoping the sheer size of the offer will force Tottenham’s hand.
Madrid sees Romero as exactly what they’re missing: a defender with some bite and personality. According to these reports, Perez thinks the huge fee will be impossible for Spurs to refuse.
If this goes through, it’d become the third biggest January transfer ever—behind Chelsea’s €121 million for Enzo Fernandez and Barcelona’s monster €135 million move for Philippe Coutinho. It’d also match what Madrid paid Spurs for Gareth Bale in 2013, which is still Tottenham’s record sale.
But here’s the thing—Tottenham aren’t exactly eager to sell. Rumours about Madrid wanting Romero aren’t new. Last April, Romero himself admitted that a move to Spain would tempt him. He even said he’d love to play in La Liga since it’s the only major league he hasn’t tried yet.
But right now, Spurs are stretched at the back. Micky van de Ven, Romero’s regular partner (and a long-term Madrid target himself), is out injured. Selling Romero now would be disastrous for Tottenham. People around the club aren’t ruling out Madrid making a move in the summer, but for this month, there’s no sign Tottenham will budge, no matter how much money is on offer.
Meanwhile, Van de Ven missed the trip to Germany for Spurs’ last Champions League group game against Eintracht Frankfurt—a match Tottenham won 2-0, easing the pressure on boss Thomas Frank and booking a spot in the last 16. There’s hope Van de Ven could feature against Manchester City on Sunday, but Pedro Porro is definitely out for a month with a hamstring injury.
With so many defenders missing, Spurs had to line up with Romero and Kevin Danso in the middle, flanked by Djed Spence and Destiny Udogie in that win over Frankfurt. Still, Frank will take heart from another Champions League clean sheet.
Romero got plenty of praise after that game—not just for his defending, but for setting up Randal Kolo Muani’s goal. On Match of the Day, Stephen Warnock said, “They were clinical, and that’s what you want away from home. Kolo Muani did exactly what you need from your striker in the box. Credit to Romero—he’s a real threat on set pieces. That back-post header was clever. He put it right where his striker needed it. Bit of a scruffy finish, but nobody cares when it ends up in the net.”
AWONIYI DOUBLE LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON THE VERGE OF PREMIER LEAGUE SAFETY
Nottingham Forest moved closer to safety with a 3-1 win over Chelsea, while West Ham fell into the relegation zone after Spurs won.
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Nottingham Forest came out of the weekend looking pretty safe after pulling off an impressive 3-1 win at Chelsea. They’re almost clear of the relegation mess. Tottenham’s big away win at Aston Villa shook things up too, and now West Ham are back in the bottom three, running out of time faster than ever.
Forest have stepped up just when they needed to, leaving West Ham and Tottenham behind with a string of solid performances. Honestly, no one saw this coming, especially since Vitor Pereira shuffled his lineup with eight changes, fresh off a Europa League win against Aston Villa.
Even so, Forest were ahead within 90 seconds, thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s quick strike. By the 15th minute, Igor Jesus calmly buried a penalty after Malo Gusto’s reckless foul in the box. Chelsea had a chance to get back in it, but Cole Palmer wasted a penalty right before the break after a scary head collision involving Jesse Derry.
Awoniyi doubled down and scored again early in the second half, pushing Forest six points ahead of West Ham with just three games left.
West Ham’s weekend started badly; they looked flat and lost to Brentford. Things got worse Sunday night when Tottenham pulled off their first back-to-back Premier League wins since August 2025, beating a heavily rotated Aston Villa side 2-1.
Forest is now out of West Ham’s reach, or almost. Tottenham’s still close enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team to worry, but with three tough games coming up, Spurs could stay up even without another win, unless West Ham digs deep and pulls off something unexpected before their home finale against Leeds.
Right now, Forest can practically taste safety. Spurs finally see a way out after weeks of struggle. As for West Ham, they’re left hoping for a miracle, a last-minute twist to dodge the drop.
CESC FABREGAS CONFIRMS INTEREST IN PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN AMID CHELSEA'S MANAGER SEARCH
As Chelsea searches for a new manager, Cesc Fabregas breaks his silence on his future at Como and his Premier League ambitions.
Cesc Fabregas recalls exactly how a conversation with Jose Mourinho prompted him to join Chelsea, despite having the opportunity to return to Arsenal.
After winning six trophies in just three seasons, the Spanish World Cup winner left Barcelona for the second time in 2014. That summer, Fabregas made a move back to the Premier League, signing with Chelsea for about €33 million.
He already knew English football well. Fabregas had arrived at Arsenal as a 16-year-old from Barcelona in 2003 and made 212 Premier League appearances for them. When he decided to leave Barcelona, Manchester City also wanted him, but Chelsea convinced him, mostly thanks to Mourinho.
Talking with talkSPORT’s Rory Jennings on YouTube, Fabregas laid out how it all happened. “Honestly, when I made up my mind to leave Barcelona, my first thought was just to go back to Arsenal. They had this buyback clause; they had two weeks to use it after I told them I was leaving. They knew about it but didn’t take it. That surprised me a little, but in the end, I had to think about my career. I was 27, at the peak of my career, and I wanted to continue performing and winning trophies. City and Chelsea were both options.
“But when Mourinho spoke to me, that was it. He showed me his plans for the team and told me about Diego Costa, Courtois, and Filipe Luis and how, with those guys, we’d win the league. He was right, by the way. We won both the Premier League and the Carling Cup.”
Fabregas wasted no time winning over Chelsea fans. On his debut at Burnley, he set up two goals, including a stunning assist for Andre Schurrle. He finished his first season at Chelsea with five goals and 24 assists, along with Premier League and League Cup medals.
Things dipped the next season. Fabregas got just 15 goal contributions, and Chelsea slipped all the way to tenth. But when Antonio Conte took charge in 2016-17, they bounced back, and Fabregas picked up another league title.
He added an FA Cup win in 2018, his second, after his earlier one with Arsenal, and left for Monaco a few months later. His last Chelsea match came in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. When he got subbed off, he couldn’t hold back tears.
Chelsea supporters still sing about him; that “Oh, Fabregas is magic...” chant sticks around. And with his name in the conversation for a possible return, maybe they haven’t seen the last of him yet.
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