Paratici deal for Romero in spotlight

FABIO PARATICI’S future at Tottenham is under increasing scrutiny after allegations he offered to pay over the odds to sign Cristian Romero from Atalanta to solve a problem for his former club Juventus.

Paratici was hit with a 30-month ban by the Italian FA on Friday for his part in financial irregularities at Juve, where he worked for more than a decade.

This penalty is expected to be extended to the UK, throwing his role as managing director of Spurs into jeopardy.

The latest revelations from the investigation, however, will prompt further questions from chairman Daniel Levy. Details have emerged from conversations between Paratici and Luca Percassi, chief executive of Atalanta and son of the club’s co-owner Antonio Percassi, recorded by Italy’s financial authorities during an investigation into Juve’s accounts.

Paratici moved to north London in the summer of 2021 and one of his first deals was to sign Romero from Atalanta, where he had spent the 2020-21 season on loan from Juventus.

Atalanta made the loan permanent and then sold the Argentina international to Tottenham five months later, after an initial loan deal, for a fee of £42.5million last summer.

Tottenham will make no comment on Paratici’s ban or his future, but strongly contest the idea they paid too much for Romero, 24, who they expect to develop into a world-class central defender. Meanwhile, Levy and manager Antonio Conte have shelved contract talks until the summer. The Italian’s contract expires at the end of the season but Spurs can trigger a 12-month extension. Conte wants to focus on results before making any further call on his future.