Chelsea midfielder Valentin Barco has had the privilege of playing alongside some incredible players in the Argentina national team.

Since becoming a full Argentina international, Barco has shared the pitch with the legendary Lionel Messi, Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez, just to name a few of his high-profile teammates.

Argentina are a very talented side who reached the World Cup final in the summer, and Barco would love to line up alongside one of their current stars at club level.

Valentin Barco would sign Cristian Romero for Chelsea if he could

Barco was recently asked who he would request Chelsea’s owners to sign if he were in a position to do that. In response, he told journalist Gaston Edul on his YouTube channel “Cuti”, referring to Cristian Romero.

Romero, who has been nicknamed “Cuti”, left Chelsea’s fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspur for Atletico Madrid during the summer. The central defender will be glad to see the back of Chelsea, whom he has an awful record against.

The 28-year-old has also been sent off against Chelsea so does not have too many fond memories from his matches against them. Gary Neville was surprised Chelsea did not sign Romero during the summer as they searched for a new centre-half.

Instead, they purchased Maxence Lacroix from Crystal Palace in a £52m deal. Unfortunately for them, Lacroix is currently out injured and is set to miss the rest of 2026.

Cristian Romero was linked with Chelsea move

While Chelsea never signed Romero in the end, it appears that they were interested in the Argentina star. According to Corriere dello Sport, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Barcelona and Arsenal were all looking at Romero before his eventual move to Atletico.

Given Chelsea’s relationship with Tottenham, it would have been a difficult transfer, although things do seem to have improved between the two London rivals. Spurs signed Tosin Adarabioyo from the Blues at the end of the last transfer window, while Mykhailo Mudryk was even allowed to join Roberto De Zerbi’s side on loan.

Of course, both players were surplus to requirements at Chelsea. Tottenham selling their captain to Chelsea would have been a lot different to the Blues allowing two unwanted players to move to north London.