The Tottenham Hotspur captain chose to speak out just minutes after the close of the transfer window, with some remarkable comments appearing to point fingers at the club's hierarchy
Cristian Romero may once again have some explaining to do.
Tottenham's captain waited until just minutes after the close of the transfer window on Monday evening before taking to social media and claiming it was "disgraceful" his side only had 11 fit players to choose from against Manchester City on Sunday.
There's a number of ways to take the Argentine's riposte. At worst, it's clearly a dig at Tottenham’s lack of transfer activity. At best, it shows a lack of thought and respect towards the club and those who run it.
And even that best case scenario, which Romero may well be able to explain away, is really damaging.
Spurs produced a wonderful fightback against Manchester City on Sunday, doing so without Romero who went off ill at half-time. He had been, frankly, dreadful in the first half.
“Great effort from all my team-mates yesterday. They were incredible. 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,” Romero wrote on social media, accompanying the paragraph with a facepalm emoji.
“We’ll keep showing up and taking responsibility to turn this around, working hard and staying together. All that’s left is to thank all of you for being there and for always supporting us, the fans.”
This is not the first time the World Cup winner has used social media to send a message to those above - and it's not the first time people have suspected his public proclamations may be him agitating for a move.
It's not long ago that Romero’s social media post had to be edited, taking out the word “lies” when talking about a lack of support from the club’s hierarchy.
“At times like this, it should be other people coming out to speak, but they don't - as has been happening for several years now. They only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies," it originally read.
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Romero is Spurs' club captain, and on his day is a world-class centre-back. When it's not his day, he can be a liability who loses his head and costs his team.
But his comments do cut to the very heart of the club's problem. Leaders. There is a real lack of leadership on the pitch and that is something club bosses are trying to address in the transfer market. Romero is supposed to be a leader, but it almost feels like he was made captain by default, given it among a lack of other obvious candidates.
Tottenham clearly need to improve their squad. They tried to do it in January but were determined not to panic buy. That would be a disaster.
They signed Conor Gallagher for £34million as he became available. Top player, top pro, great attitude. Brazilian youngster Souza also arrived and is one for the future. They also got James Wilson from Hearts but he is for the under-21s.
They did try for more and Thomas Frank even went public on the fact that they tried to get a deal done for Antoine Semenyo, who ultimately went to Manchester City.
Spurs do have a transfer strategy. They want Premier League players and good characters. They will go again in the summer and are determined to stick with and back Frank.
Yes, they have been hit by injuries and it has left them short. But they are still a club struggling and in need of leadership. The dark days have been lightened by results in Europe and marching into the Champions League knockouts.
Romero's words don't help. They don't need him hitting the self destruct button. But with his messaging, maybe he is a player that they could actually do without.