The Tottenham centre-back went off in tears during Robert De Zerbi's debut defeat at Sunderland with fears over a knee injury
Tottenham captain Cristian Romero is set to undergo an MRI scan on his knee on Monday, claim media back in his native Argentina.
Just after the hour mark of Spurs' 1-0 defeat at Sunderland on Sunday, the 27-year-old centre-back was shoved forward by home striker Brian Brobbey into Antonin Kinsky as he shepherded the ball back to the 23-year-old goalkeeper. As the Argentine was flung forward, Kinsky's head and shoulder rammed into the side of his right knee, jarring his leg.
Both defender and goalkeeper required lengthy treatment on the pitch and when the Tottenham skipper stood up he clearly felt something was not right in his knee and the tears flowed, fearing perhaps that he may not only miss the fight to keep the club in the Premier League but also the World Cup this summer.
Romero's Tottenham team-mates could be seen consoling him on the pitch, all coming over to him as he hobbled off the turf. Waiting for him in the mouth of the tunnel was his fellow centre-back Radu Dragusin, who had left the bench to speak to him. The Romanian has known his share of injury pain in recent seasons after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury last year.
It was Roberto De Zerbi's debut in the dugout and having lost Mohammed Kudus earlier in the week, the new Spurs head coach is facing up to potentially losing his captain just days after saying how crucial the Argentine is to the team.
"We don't know yet. We have to see in the next few days," De Zerbi told football.london of the injury. "I hope for us it's not an important problem because he's a crucial player for us. A good guy, top player, big personality and we need him to finish the season and to achieve our goal."
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Argentinean media outlet TyC Sports stated in the immediate aftermath on Sunday that Romero felt pain and instability in his knee and the club would run tests on it to see if the medial collateral ligament has been injured or if it was just sore from the impact.
Advanced scans are often carried out once swelling subsides to get a clearer image but initial ones can be done sooner and another Argentinean outlet Ole claimed that Romero will undergo an MRI scan on his knee on Monday.
If it is MCL-related, then medical studies show that such injuries are graded in four ways from a slight stretch to a complete tear. The first keeps a player out for one to three weeks while a complete tear (grade four) would keep them out for 10 to 12 weeks on average.
Media in Argentina have since claimed it is in the middle grades of that meaning Romero would miss between five to eight weeks, so be unavailable for Tottenham's run-in but back for the World Cup.