The Tottenham Hotspur captain Cristian Romero took another swipe at the club shortly after the transfer window closed by saying the lack of available players against Manchester City was “disgraceful”.
Romero referred to Spurs having only “11 players available” against City in what appeared to be criticism of the club’s recruitment strategy. He posted the message about half an hour after the transfer window closed.
Romero, who came off at half-time against City owing to illness, wrote: “Great effort from all my team-mates yesterday, they were incredible. I wanted to be available to help them even though I wasn’t feeling well, especially since we only had 11 players available — unbelievable but true and disgraceful.
“We’ll keep showing up and taking responsibility to turn this around, working hard and staying together. All that’s left is to thank all of you for being there and for always supporting us, the fans.”
Romero added a face-palming emoji, normally used to express frustration or embarrassment, after the word “disgraceful”.
Tottenham made two first-team signings in the January transfer window in Conor Gallagher, who joined for £35million from Atletico Madrid, and the 19-year-old left back, Souza, from Santos. Tottenham had 11 senior players out injured against City.
Romero has scored six times for Spurs this season and has been one of their standout players
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Frank appointed Romero as his captain at the start of the season after the 27-year-old signed a new four-year contract in August. He had attracted strong interest from Atletico Madrid.
Despite Frank’s show of faith, it was less than a month ago that Tottenham’s head coach and the sporting director Johan Lange had to speak to Romero after the defender posted another scathing message on social media about the Tottenham hierarchy following a 3-2 defeat away at Bournemouth.
Romero wrote that “it should be other people coming out to speak, but they don’t — as has been happening for several years now”. He added: “They only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies,” which he later edited to remove the reference to “lies”.
Frank has previously said his players shouldn’t “make the same mistake twice”
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Frank said Romero had made a mistake as a “young leader” and they had a “good conversation”, but that his captain had not been fined. Asked if there would be a point where he could draw a line, Frank said: “Yeah, of course.” He added: “I think if it’s the same exact situation that they do, and you can make a mistake, don’t make the same mistake twice.”
When fit and focused, Romero is one of the best defenders around but he has never been far from controversy at Tottenham. The timing of Romero’s gushing message about previous head coach Ange Postecoglou in June last year also seemed pointed, given it came just a few minutes after Frank’s appointment had been confirmed. Romero also referred to the “many obstacles that always existed and always will exist” in that message.
By then, Romero had given an interview to Argentinian media in April in which he said he would “love to play” in La Liga, while the previous December, in 2024, he criticised the Tottenham hierarchy for a lack of investment in the team compared to other sides in the Premier League.
Romero’s disciplinary record on the pitch improved under Postecoglou, who named him as one of his vice-captains. But this season Romero has been shown ten yellow cards and one red card, which came in a defeat at home to Liverpool. He has also scored six goals, including a superb bicycle kick against Newcastle United in December.