Paul Scholes has told Manchester United to try to hijack Cristian Romero's move to Atletico Madrid, even as Tottenham Hotspur edge closer to selling their Argentine centre-back to the Spanish club this summer.
Speaking on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast, the United great did not exactly sell the idea gently. "I know it sounds silly, but I like him," Scholes said. "I think he's crazy, a very good defender who does silly things, he's an absolute clown."
Scholes doubled down, calling Romero "a nutcase" in the same breath as praising his ability, and argued the 28-year-old would be relatively cheap business at somewhere between £30 million and £40 million given his trophy haul.
Romero has won the World Cup and two Copa America titles with Argentina, and lifted the Europa League with Spurs last season — a résumé Scholes believes makes him worth the gamble despite his combustible reputation on the pitch.
The pundit's case rests partly on Michael Carrick, who has taken charge at Old Trafford and whose calm, measured touchline manner Scholes thinks could channel Romero's aggression rather than let it boil over into the kind of rash challenges that have brought him repeated bookings and suspensions in England.
Scholes also pointed to United's defensive frailties as the driving reason to move, flagging doubts over the reliability and fitness of Lisandro Martinez as a factor pushing the club to look for reinforcements before the transfer window shuts.
The timing is tight. Tottenham and Atletico Madrid are already deep into negotiations over Romero, with reports putting the two sides only a few million pounds apart on a fee that has been quoted at various points between £30 million and roughly £40 million, still without a full package agreed on bonuses and add-ons.
For now Romero's most likely destination remains Madrid rather than Manchester, but Scholes' intervention has at least put United's name into a conversation that, until now, had been a straight negotiation between Spurs and Atletico.
