Photo: Bryan Berlin / WikiPortraits / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 4.0

The exits of Cristian Romero and Djed Spence are edging ever closer with both set to travel for medicals tomorrow.

News broke yesterday afternoon that Inter Milan had agreed with Tottenham a €31.5 million (£26.9 million) fee rising to €35 million (£29.9 million) with add-ons for Spence’s services. The Englishman had given the green light to the Italian club weeks before.

A little while later, around yesterday evening, confirmation that Atletico Madrid had reached an agreement with Spurs of €40 million (£34.1 million) for Cristian Romero hit the press. The deal is believed to include a 15% sell-on clause.

In the last hour, reputable transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano has revealed that both players are set to have their medicals at their respective new clubs tomorrow.

Whilst the departures of both players, particularly Romero, have not raised many eyebrows amongst Spurs fans, their price tags certainly have.

There was an understanding that Romero would be leaving the club this summer, with last season’s captain burning bridges with the Tottenham board and some parts of the fanbase.

That being said, I doubt many Spurs fans truly and honestly can label him a bad footballer. In fact, the consensus is that the Argentine is amongst the very best in world football in his position.

He has just enjoyed a fruitful World Cup, helping his side to the final and starred in the 2022 edition where he became a world champion. Moreover, despite all his disciplinary frailties, he is generally considered one of the Premier League’s most impressive centre-halves.

In addition, only last summer he signed a new deal keeping him at Hotspur Way until 2029, which should have protected his market value.

So why sell for the same price that Brennan Johnson left for in January?

Well, simply put, it comes to three things: the player made it clear he wants to leave, the club made it clear they wanted to sell him, and interest in the player hasn’t been as strong as expected.

Atletico knew the player wanted to leave; hence his market value is instantly lowered. Atletico also knew Tottenham were eager to sell to fund Roberto De Zerbi’s rebuild. Finally, Spurs couldn’t demand a higher fee because, well, there was no one else bidding.

So, £34.1 million, in reality, is probably just over half of what Romero is really worth, but Spurs’ hand was already played, and Atletico have taken advantage of that.

Djed Spence’s exit is probably more surprising to Tottenham fans and a little more complex to try and explain.

Spence started 23 games in the Premier League for Tottenham last season and, on the whole, has been consistently solid over the last two campaigns.

The former Nottingham Forest full-back also received plaudits nationally after numerous stellar performances at the World Cup.

The signing of Andy Robertson no doubt would have made the Englishman’s competition for minutes more difficult, yet his versatility to play both on the right and left would have certainly played into his favour.

But for whatever reason, Tottenham and De Zerbi decided Spence was not indispensable, and they could sell.

Is selling a 26-year-old England international for just under a £30 million package really fair, given his three-plus years of Premier League experience, his ability to operate on either flank, and the fact that his stock is arguably at its highest?

The short answer is no - he must be worth at least £40 million and debatably as high as £50 million.

So, same as Romero, why sanction it?

Well, unfortunately, like the Romero sale, a similar conundrum applies.

While this time Spurs were less open to selling, Spence himself was very interested in leaving. He had his head turned weeks ago by Inter Milan, who had proposed the idea of him starting as a wing-back in a back five - something he was very interested in.

Sadly for Spurs, though, Inter Milan have nowhere near the financial power that those in England have. The club had seen that when Inter pulled out of the race for, incidentally, Cristian Romero because a deal would have too many financial implications.

Roberto De Zerbi had also insisted that players who don’t want to be at the club can leave, as he wants players who are fully committed to Spurs.

The combination of the two has made it hard for the Lilywhites to really make any demands for the full-back, and the price represents that.

So it is without doubt that Spurs have secured fees well below their players’ values. And could they have waited towards the end of the window to extract marginally larger price tags? Probably, yes.

However, when players want out, the club or manager wants them out, and interest is limited, this is the result.

The fact is Spurs are 9 days away from a Premier League opener away at Brentford and are yet to sign an attacking player. It was reported that Spurs needed to move on players before they could buy again after the signing of Sandro Tonali, and this example is just that coming to fruition.

Spurs are set to gain just under £65 million, and whether fans like it or not, that is not something that noses can be turned up at.