Atletico Madrid have added Rodrigo Bentancur to a list of transfer targets which already includes his Tottenham Hotspur teammate Cristian Romero, a new report has claimed.

The Spanish giants are no strangers to making expensive Premier League purchases. Just last summer, Atletico splashed roughly £100m to prise Julian Alvarez and Conor Gallagher away from Manchester City and Chelsea respectively.

Romero has been framed as a long-term figure of interest and now it has emerged that Bentancur is another “key target” for Diego Simeone’s side, according to The Times.

Bentancur has been a regular in Tottenham’s starting XI since joining from Juventus at the beginning of 2022. Routinely preferred to the enterprising young prospect of Archie Gray at the base of Ange Postecoglou’s midfield, Spurs are said to be actively trying to keep the Uruguayan in north London. The Times claim that the club are in discussion with Bentancur’s relative representatives regarding an extension to his contract which expires in 2026.

Despite serving a seven-game ban for, mistakenly or otherwise, aiming a racial slur at Spurs captain Son Heung-min, Postecoglou has hailed Bentancur as “an outstanding person” and “an unbelievable teammate”. On the pitch, the Australian boss insists that his midfielder has “gone up a level” in performance.

Tottenham are also reluctant to lose Romero. Spurs have reportedly slapped a £60m price tag on the centre-back, who has a deal which stretches until 2027.

Romero, for his part, has certainly made himself appear available. “My focus is always on growing and looking for new places to continue developing,” the Argentine World Cup winner bluntly revealed earlier this week. “La Liga is a league I would love to play in and need to play in because it is the league that I lack [to play in every top division],” he pointedly added.

If Atletico were to have their way, both Romero and Bentancur would be lining up in Spain’s top flight next summer.