Thomas Frank has confessed he has “no idea” if Cristian Romero will remain at Tottenham next season, following the captain’s apparent frustration over the club’s lack of signings in the winter transfer window. The 27-year-old expressed his disappointment on Instagram shortly after the transfer window shut this week, lamenting the shortage of available players after he had to be substituted at half-time during Spurs’ 2-2 draw with Manchester City due to illness.
The Tottenham captain posted: “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.” Frank confirmed that despite Romero’s recent outburst, he would remain as captain and stated that the club had addressed the issue internally.
Romero, who has contributed six goals and four assists amidst Tottenham’s struggles under Frank, is reportedly keen to leave this summer according to reports from his home country. This comes despite the World Cup-winning centre-back signing a four-year contract last August.
When questioned about whether he expects the Argentine international to stay at the club next season, Frank admitted: “That’s a question I have no idea about. Right now he is the captain, he has a long-term contract and we signed a new contract with him.” While not referring to Romero specifically, Frank stated that any player who might be unhappy should still be expected to fulfil their professional duties.
“As long as everyone does their job, it is fair enough. I am pretty sure there are also some players who don’t think I am the best bloke or whatever it is, but as long as they work hard and do everything they can on the pitch then I am happy,” he said.
“Is the feeling better if everyone is aligned and happy and likes each other? Probably. But it is all about the performances on the pitch. In general in his time here, [Romero] has been exceptional [in my time here]. I think he has had some unbelievably big games for us, not only defensively but he has also scored some crucial goals. I think there is, in general, over time, there is always one line you cannot cross. For any player, for me, for any staff members, for anyone,” admitted Frank.
Following last month’s loss at Bournemouth, Romero had posted about certain people at Spurs who “only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies”, before removing the final five words of that statement. After that episode Frank had said of Romero that “you can make a mistake but don’t make the same mistake twice”.
Now it seems Romero has repeated his actions and Frank was reminded of his earlier comments. “I think sometimes someone makes more than one mistake. We have dealt with it internally,” he stated.
“Leadership is many things. I’m 52-years-old. I think I’m pretty good at leadership. Can I get better every single day? Yes. Do I make mistakes? Maybe not every single day but probably weekly. Romero is 27. Is he still going to make mistakes going forward as a leader? Yes. Does he do a lot of good things? Yes.”