Few players in the modern era of Tottenham Hotspur have split opinion quite like Cristian Romero.
A player who is capable of running games from the back and shutting out the world's elite forwards, and a player who is capable of indiscipline, petulance and self-destruction. The sublime and the ridiculous.
Romero’s ability on the ball, his front-foot aggression and his fight on the pitch have lead to some, including Lionel Messi, to rate him among the best in the world in his position, while his laughable disciplinary record and lapses in concentration are pointed to by those who hold a less favourable view.
It was the former attributes that made Spurs fans fall in love with him immediately when he joined from Atalanta back in 2021. Spurs forked out £42million for the then 23 year old, a hefty outlay for the club, at a time when dropping £100m on a midfielder in the first week of the window would've been a fanciful thought.
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There are many reasons why five years on, Romero, now 28, is still at Tottenham, a club with back to back 17th place finishes in the Premier League. But there are just as many reasons why he has been a stalwart at the back for the world champions for the last five years.
While Spurs fans have backed Romero staunchly over the years, their patience has often been tested and his commitment to the club has been questioned on more than one occasion. Some fans believe he prioritises Argentina over the club who pays his wages, being unavailable in the weeks leading up to international breaks, only to fly to the other side of the world and play 180 minutes for his country will do that.
The Tottenham captain was forced into an embarrassing U-turn just this season when it emerged he was not planning to be in attendance for the club's relegation decider against Everton on the final day, and instead planned to remain in Argentina where he was recuperating from a knee injury.
Romero did return to London, and Tottenham did remain in the Premier League. But it was just another misstep that led to questions over his dedication to his club side.
Romero has missed 100 of Tottenham's 256 matches since joining the club in 2021, just under 40% of Spurs' fixtures in that time, through a combination of injuries and an almost impressive amount of suspensions. But when he has been available, his performances have put him into the conversation alongside the best centre backs to play for the club in the Premier League era.
He has also received a lot of backing from fans for speaking out against the club's hierarchy on multiple occasions, on a lack of activity in the transfer window last summer and on the silence from the decision-makers in January this year during Spurs' shocking run of form that plunged them to the brink of relegation.
Romero called for the hierarchy to speak up following the 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth around the turn of the year, posting to Instagram: “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. They only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies.”
The defender was spoken to by then-boss Thomas Frank and sporting director Johan Lange for his outburst, but the club, and Romero, knew whose side the fans were on.
However, the Spurs hierarchy aren't the only ones you could accuse of only showing up when things are going well. The Argentine was as culpable as any of his Spurs team-mates for the team's dire form over the course of the season, and one thing that has become clear over his five years at the club, is when the going gets tough, Romero rarely gets going.
When Romero feels things are heading in the right direction, there is a cause to get behind, and competing at the top is a genuine goal, you will see the best of him, and when his attitude is right he is undoubtedly up there with the best around in his position.
His performances in the Europa League run in 2024-25, capped off by his imperious display in the 1-0 win over Manchester United in the final in Bilbao, were extraordinary. And his performances on the world stage for his country for over half a decade have been much the same.
A switched-on and engaged Cristian Romero truly is a force to be reckoned with, it just isn't the Cristian Romero Spurs fans see enough of.
And while the club have more than their fair share of blame to take for that, it is the reason why the supporters might not be as sad to see a player of his quality depart this summer as would ordinarily be the case.