The Tottenham Hotspur captain is back home in Argentina and the club's supporters are angry that he will miss Sunday's crunch game against Everton
Tottenham captain Cristian Romero has returned to Argentina as part of pre-planned rehabilitation scheduled weeks ago and is not set to watch his boyhood team there, football.london understands.
Spurs fans have been in uproar over reports that the centre-back would not be present at the do-or-die match against Everton on Sunday which will decide whether the north London club remain in the Premier League next season. There had also been suggestions that Romero would instead be at his first club Belgrano's Primera Division final against River Plate on Sunday.
However, it is understood that the defender will not be attending that game in Argentina and instead is going through a set rehabilitation plan that has been in place for weeks for his knee injury suffered against Sunderland last month.
Romero had the option to return immediately to his homeland and begin his rehabilitation under the supervision of the Argentina national team medical staff, who are recognised among the leading specialists in the world for this type of recovery, but initially turned that down.
The 28-year-old chose to remain in London for as long as possible in order to stay close to his team-mates and continue supporting the club throughout a crucial period of the season and was often in team meetings and speaking daily with boss Roberto De Zerbi about the situation.
In the meantime, members of the Argentina national team medical staff instead travelled to London to work closely with him on a daily basis, alongside Spurs' medical department, to oversee the first phase of his rehabilitation. The second phase, which has involved his trip to Argentina this week, is understood to have always been part of the recovery plan with Romero to complete the final stage of his rehabilitation there before continuing his work at the AFA training centre.
Romero's agent Ciro Palermo told football.london: "Any suggestion that the trip was made for the purpose of attending football matches is entirely inaccurate. More than that, it is a completely fabricated narrative being circulated by people who are unaware of the facts and have no knowledge of the rehabilitation plan that has been in place for weeks.
"Cristian's focus is, and has always been, on recovering as strongly as possible, preparing for the World Cup, and supporting Tottenham Hotspur in every way he can. His commitment to the club, his team-mates and the supporters has been evident throughout his time at Tottenham and remains unchanged."