Former Spurs centre-back Toby Alderweireld has now delivered his honest assessment of Tottenham captain Cristian Romero amid transfer speculation.
Cristian Romero‘s relationship with Tottenham Hotspur fans has certainly been rocky during his five-year spell in north London.
There is no denying his quality. He is a World Cup winner and played a vital role in Spurs’ Europa League triumph last season, even being named Player of the Tournament.
However, there has often been a question mark over the defender regarding where his head is at. Last season, Atletico Madrid were interested in the Tottenham man and were keen to sign him.
Amid that speculation, Romero made a controversial statement that did not go down well with sections of the Tottenham fanbase.
“We’re in the Europa League semi-finals, and I want to finish the season on a high note. After that, we’ll see. My focus is always on growing and looking for new places to continue developing,” he said.
“A league I would like to play in would be Spain to compete in all the major leagues.”
Tottenham captain Cristian Romero receives Toby Alderweireld verdict
Fast forward a year, and Romero once again found himself on the wrong side of Spurs fans.
It was revealed before the final gameweek of the season that Romero was set to miss the match against Everton and would instead attend a South American fixture involving his boyhood club, Belgrano.
He did make it to the Everton clash after significant backlash, but the feeling now is that he could well be on his way out of north London.
Former Spurs centre-back Toby Alderweireld has now shared his verdict on the Tottenham captain. Speaking to football.london, the Belgian praised Romero’s ability but also explained why he believes the defender has sometimes let the team down in key moments.
“He’s an unbelievable player. Very aggressive. When he’s on his level he can beat any striker,” said the Belgian. “But on the other hand, as a centre-back, you need to see not only yourself, but you need to help the team, you know? And some moments with the red cards, moments that he’s injured – injury is not always, of course, your own fault – but especially the red cards and moments.
“The moment at Old Trafford, 29 minutes in and you get a red card, this is not possible, you understand? There’s a red card, if he’s the last man and he wants to try to tackle ok, but with a 50-50 challenge, then I think ‘wow, you don’t help the team in the situation they’re in’ and then I get a little bit of my doubts.
“Because if he can get all that anger sometimes in the right moments with his head, I think he’s one of the best centre-backs in the world. But sometimes those things, it doesn’t help the team. Especially in difficult moments, real leaders, they get to the level of thinking ‘now we’re going to help the team’.
“And sometimes we missed him. That says a lot, because he’s an unbelievable player, that’s why we miss him. But he wasn’t always there when the club needed him.”
Romero’s disciplinary record raises questions
Of course, Romero is an aggressive centre-back, and the number of red cards he has picked up since arriving in the Premier League backs that up.
The Argentine has received four red cards since joining Tottenham, with no Premier League player collecting more over that period.
| Player | Red cards since 2022-23 |
|---|---|
| Cristian Romero | 4 |
| Casemiro | 3 |
| Lewis Cook | 3 |
| Abdoulaye Doucoure | 2 |
| Anthony Gordon | 2 |
| Ashley Young | 2 |
| Bruno Fernandes | 2 |
| Conor Gallagher | 2 |
| Curtis Jones | 2 |
| Jack Stephens | 2 |
Spurs now appear to be preparing for life without Romero. Jan Paul van Hecke has been linked with Tottenham, with Spurs having already submitted a bid that was rejected.
Spurs Web believes Van Hecke could be the club’s replacement, with interest from Spain in Romero remaining strong ahead of the summer transfer window.