Cristian Romero: Good riddance to one of the Premier League's worst ever captains

Opinion

Robin Bairner | Chief Editor

Accredited football journalist and editor covering the game since 2006

Cristian Romero has ended his time at Tottenham with a €40 million move to Atletico Madrid confirmed on Saturday, but there will be few tears shed over the captain’s departure.

The Argentine leaves the North London side in a deal worth some €6.7m below his Estimated Transfer Value (ETV).

The fact that Roberto De Zerbi’s club were willing to offload the 28-year-old for a comparative bargain speaks volumes of his standing at Spurs, where he will go down as the worst captain in the 142-year history of the club, having taken the armband as they flirted with Premier League relegation.

Current ETV

Cristian Romero 

D (C)

Atlético Madrid

Cristian Romero 

D (C)

Atlético Madrid

€46.7M

ETV Range

€42.1M - €51.4M

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Romero: An absent captain

Romero more than played his part in Spurs’ woes last season, not least when a reckless challenge on Casemiro left his side to play an hour at Old Trafford against Manchester United down to 10 men in a game they ultimately lost 2-0. He was banned for the next four games, with Tottenham losing them all.

That run left Tottenham needing a strong run-in to avoid relegation, which went down to the final day of the season. With Romero laid up with a knee problem for the last month of the campaign, he initially had intended to miss the critical match against Everton to instead watch his childhood club Belgrano play River Plate back in Argentina in a move former Spurs captain Glenn Hoddle branded as “scandalous”.

In total, he managed only 23 Premier League appearances, missing six through suspension, and after Spurs’ strong start to the season, he was only on the field for one of the final six wins – that a 2-0 success against Brentford in December before the mentality and attitude of the team was tested by a miserable winter.

Social media spats

While some players rise to the challenge of being given the prestigious honour of captaining one of England’s biggest clubs, others wilt. And there is little doubt that the Argentine fell into the latter camp.

Captains can lead by example or by command. Romero did neither. At times he appeared disinterested in the chaos that was unfolding around him, while on a personal level, data analytics firm SciSports describes his level as being in a period of “rapid decline” over the course of the last six months.

Romero rarely showed the combative spirit on the field he did off it when going public on social media to criticise the board.

After a loss to Bournemouth last January, in which a late Antoine Semenyo winner for the Cherries sparked toxic scenes in the away end, Romero took to Instagram in the early hours of the following morning.

“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,” he wrote. “They only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies.

“All together, it will be easier.”

The post was subsequently edited to remove “to tell a few lies”, but the bomb had been dropped, which forced erstwhile manager Thomas Frank to speak about the situation.

“When you're a young leader, sometimes you make a mistake. It's, of course, good to keep it internally,” the ex-Spurs manager admitted while generally defending Romero.

But this was not his first jibe at the board on socials.

He posted a cryptic message the previous June that hinted at his unhappiness Ange Postecoglou was sacked, discussing “the many obstacles that always existed and always will exist”.

One last insult to Spurs

Romero’s impact at Spurs has been summed up by Sky Sports’ expert Michael Bridge, who pointed out the self-centred nature of the former Juventus and Atalanta star in a withering critique of the player.

“Even announcing the move before the club have announced it, it’s Romero,” he said.

“On his day he was one of the best centre-backs in the world but those days came against Ecuador, Peru on international duty.

“There’s nothing wrong with being proud to play for your nation but there was too many times it was a chore playing for Spurs.

“He posted a few public comments about the board, which you can’t do. He was a key part of winning the Europa League but there was that final day saga about whether will he or won’t he watch his team to stay up. It was needless. The time was right for him to move.”

Romero’s legacy at Tottenham may not have been tarnished by relegation, but he did ample damage on his own that will see him remembered as the club’s worst-ever captain.