Romeu began his career at Barcelona, playing mainly in their reserves at Barcelona B. In 2011, he joined Chelsea for €5 million, spending time on loan at Valencia and VfB Stuttgart before moving to Southampton four years later. He played 256 times for Southampton before returning to La Liga with Girona in 2022.
Romeu was included in the nineteen-man Barcelona squad on 13 August 2010, due to the need to rest some of Barcelona's Spanish internationals. He was to face Sevilla in the first leg of the season's Spanish Supercup. He made his official competitive debut in that game, playing the full ninety minutes in the 1–3 away loss.[5][6]
Reports began to link Romeu with a move to Chelsea on 22 July 2011.[8] The following day he agreed terms for his transfer, pending a medical or personal terms as he was away on international duty at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[9] On 4 August the English club announced the completion of the transfer, with the player signing a four-year contract[10] in a deal worth €5 million – the deal also gave Barcelona first refusal via a buy back option should Chelsea deem him surplus to requirements, seeing Barcelona pay €10 million in 2012 or €15 million in 2013 to bring him back to the Camp Nou;[11] he was given the number 6 shirt for the new campaign.[12]
In December 2011, Chelsea issued a statement regarding the deal surrounding Romeu's buy back clause with Barcelona. The statement highlighted that the Blaugrana did not have an automatic buy back clause as first suggested, only having first refusal on any deal if the Blues wanted to sell him in the future.[17]
On 12 July 2013, Romeu returned to Spain and joined Valencia in a season-long loan deal.[20] He made his debut for the club on 15 September, in a 3–1 defeat at Real Betis.[21] In February, during training Romeu suffered another knee injury that kept him out of action for a month.[22] During his time with Valencia, Romeu played 18 games.
Loan to Stuttgart
On 17 July 2014, Romeu signed a new contract with Chelsea, keeping him at the club until 2017.[23] On 4 August, however, he was loaned to VfB Stuttgart in Germany.[24] He made his debut twenty days later in a 1–1 draw at Borussia Mönchengladbach.[25]
On 13 August 2015, Romeu joined Southampton for £5 million on a three-year deal.[26][27] He made his debut two days later, as a half-time substitute for Dušan Tadić in a 3–0 home defeat to Everton, earning a booking after three minutes for a foul on James McCarthy.[28] He scored his first goal for the Saints – and first in a professional league – on 5 December, equalising for a 1–1 draw against Aston Villa at St Mary's Stadium.[29]
After missing only one league game all season for Claude Puel's Saints, Romeu signed a new four-and-a-half-year deal on 24 January 2017.[30] Puel compared Romeu to Chelsea player N'Golo Kanté.[31] He was voted the club's Player of the Season,[32] at the end of a campaign that saw them reach the EFL Cup Final.[33]
In November 2020, Romeu signed a new contract to keep him at Southampton until the summer of 2023.[34] On 23 February 2021, he produced “one of the greatest tackles of all time” after he made up a serious amount of ground to prevent Leeds United forward Raphinha from scoring, but the game ended in a 3–0 defeat.[35] In the same game, he picked up an ankle injury and required surgery, which was expected to see him miss the remainder of the season.[36] However, he was able to make an appearance on the final day of the 2020–21 season, replacing Kyle Walker-Peters in Southampton’s 3–0 defeat to West Ham United.[37]
Girona
On 1 September 2022, Romeu completed a permanent transfer to Girona.[38] Later that month, on 9 September, he scored his first La Liga goal, securing a 2–1 victory over Real Valladolid.[39]
Return to Barcelona
On 19 July 2023, Romeu returned to his former club, Barcelona, on a three-year contract.[40]
Return to Girona on loan
On 5 August 2024, Romeu rejoined Girona on a season-long loan deal.[41]
He was part of the Spanish squad which was eliminated from its group at the 2012 Olympics, coming on as a substitute in their first match and starting the last.
Personal life
Romeu, who is known for his interest in literature,[44] wrote an autobiography La temporada de mi vida, el viaje interior de un futbolista (The season of my life, the inside voyage of a footballer).[45]
