Tottenham defender Cristian Romero has reportedly told Tottenham he ‘wants to stay’ despite looking almost certain to leave – but it might be too late.
Romero has been a central part of Spurs’ side for all of his five years there. While injuries and suspensions have scuppered the Argentine and frustrated those connected with the club, when he’s there, he’s a great defender whose passion is evident.
That passion appeared to have waned at the back end of the season, when Romero returned to Argentina to watch his former club rather than watch the last game of Tottenham’s season – that decision was reversed, and he was in the building as they beat Everton to stay in the Premier League.
But it seemed to be a sign that he wanted to leave, and amid interest, namely from Atletico Madrid, it’s looked likely that he’s going to leave.
But SportsBoom now reports Romero has told Tottenham he ‘wants to stay’ in order to drive the club’s revival after a poor campaign.
The outlet refers to the decision as a ‘shock change of heart’ with club chiefs made aware that the Argentine is ‘happy’ to remain in north London.
Indeed, his preference is now to remain there, though he wants assurances over the club’s direction.
Those include guarantees on the long-term vision and recruitment plans, with a rebuild on the cards.
Romero wants to lead by example as Tottenham head in a new direction, wanting to ‘remain at the heart’ of the project.
It may be too late for Romero
But the direction that the club is going could be away from Romero, and after his actions and the reports that have come out, it would be hard to begrudge them that.
The Argentine hasn’t shown commitment to his side, and they have already begun to shape their defence in a different way.
Of last season’s preferred centre-back partnership of Romero and Micky van de Ven, though both have some big clubs interested in them, it’s long been suggested that the latter wants to stay and will indeed be doing so.
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He is now joined in the defence by Marcos Senesi and £52million signing Jan Paul van Hecke, both of whom had good Premier League seasons last term.
That’s three top-quality centre-backs, alongside options such as Kevin Danso and Radu Dragusin.
Romero’s decision might have come too late, with the new boys surely expecting large roles and having joined the club for those.