‘No mercy’ – Destiny Udogie reveals what Romero did to him in his first training session

Destiny Udogie has revealed that he was greeted with a nasty challenge by Cristian Romero in his first training session with the Tottenham squad this summer.

Spurs fans are well aware of the kind of competitor Romero is, with the centre-back not shying away from making hard tackles even when he comes up against players he knows well, as evidenced by his tackle on his international teammate Enzo Fernadnez a couple of weeks ago, for which he got sent off.

So, it will come as no surprise to Tottenham supporters to learn that the 25-year-old does not spare any of his teammates in training either, with Udogie admitting to learning that the hard way.

Cristian Romero gave Udogie a painful hello

The left-back told The Athletic about Romero: “This guy, he has no mercy! I remember in one of my first training sessions I was playing inside as an inverted full-back, I controlled the ball and from my back ‘Boom!’ I said, ‘Wow’ and Ivan (Perisic) was like, ‘Yeah, welcome’.

“But Cristian’s a good guy because the way he trains is how he plays. He’s a great defender. One of the best for sure.” When asked if the defender apologised for the tackle, Udogie said with a smile: “Nah, he never said sorry. Impossible.”

The Tottenham man admitted that he was in awe of the facilities at Hotspur Way when he first set foot into the venue.

He said: “When I entered the training ground for the first time, I was like, ‘Wow’.”

The former Udinese man also named Yves Bissouma, Pape Matar Sarr, Eric Dier and Ivan Perisic, as the players who helped him settle into his new surroundings when he arrived in the summer.

He told The Athletic about the aforementioned players: “All of these players helped me a lot from the first day. They explained to me how the club works, how you have to behave and play, and areas around north London. So that made it easier for me.

“And I spoke with Sonny too. I’m a young guy, so he just said to stay focused every game, every day in training, train well. But with the whole group, the vibe is just good. I love this team.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Spurs players used to say the same thing about Erik Lamela, with many admitting that they were forced to train with chin pads due to the winger. It sounds like Lamela’s role in training has been taken over by a fellow Argentine in Romero over the past couple of years.