John Wenham slams Cristian Romero amid the Argentinian’s final-day absence from Tottenham vs. Everton.
Cristian Romero’s decision to miss Tottenham‘s final-day clash against Everton has been met with outrage from analyst John Wenham, who described the club captain’s absence from what could be the most important Premier League match in the club’s recent history as an absolute disgrace and suggested it could effectively seal his exit from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this summer.
Romero, who has been sidelined since suffering a season-ending knee injury at Sunderland in April, will instead be in Argentina watching River Plate face his former club Belgrano in a title decider, leaving his teammates to face Everton without their captain’s presence on the touchline or in the stands. However, recent reports suggest that Romero is also undergoing rehabilitation in Argentina.
Wenham was unsparing in his verdict, speaking exclusively to Tottenham News. He said:
“Absolute disgrace. Tottenham’s biggest ever Premier League game and the club captain won’t be in attendance. Maybe more will come out about this, and the club have granted him time off, but the optics are appalling.”
The context makes the situation considerably more complicated than a straightforward case of a player choosing football over his club. Romero’s agent previously issued a statement clarifying that his presence in Argentina was for a pre-arranged rehabilitation programme rather than simply to attend matches, and that any suggestion the trip was made for the purpose of watching football was entirely inaccurate.
That clarification has not entirely silenced the critics, and the optics of the captain being absent on the day Tottenham could theoretically be relegated remain deeply uncomfortable regardless of the explanation offered.
Cristian Romero could depart Tottenham this summer
The incident appears to have hardened views around Romero’s future at the club. Wenham believes the episode could see him sold at a cut-price fee of around £35 million, a figure that Spurs supporters might previously have baulked at but could now find more palatable given the circumstances. Atletico Madrid have been linked with the Argentine, and with his contract situation unresolved and the captain’s armband now seemingly a matter of debate, a summer departure looks increasingly likely.
De Zerbi has spoken consistently about the need for leadership through actions rather than words. Whatever the full facts behind Romero’s absence turn out to be, the images of a club captain watching football in Argentina while his teammates face a survival showdown will be difficult to shift from the minds of supporters who have endured one of the most painful seasons in the club’s history.