Thomas Frank admitted he had “no idea” whether Cristian Romero will still be a Tottenham Hotspur player next season, as he said the captain’s latest outburst had been “dealt with internally”.
Frank refused to say whether the centre-back had been fined or disciplined for his latest apparent swipe at the club’s owners, but did confirm that the defender will remain the captain.
In a social media post earlier this week, Romero had labelled the lack of available players at the club as “unbelievable, but true and disgraceful”. It came just a month after the Argentine publicly accused “people” at Spurs of only showing up when things are going well and “to tell a few lies”.
Reports in Argentina have cast serious doubt over Romero’s future at the north-London club, with strong suggestions that the 27-year-old intends to leave at the end of this campaign.
Romero committed to a new four-year deal in August, saying he was at the “best club in the world”, but Frank offered no guarantees when quizzed about the centre-back’s future.
‘He has been exceptional’
Asked if he expects Romero to be at the club next season, Frank said: “That is a question I have no idea about. Right now he is the captain, he has a long-term contract and we signed a new contract with him.”
The Tottenham coach suggested that Romero’s importance to the team was a key factor when considering his outbursts and the potential ramifications.
Asked whether it matters if players are unhappy with the club, as long as they perform well on the pitch, the Spurs head coach said: “I think if you are generalising, as long as everyone does their job, then it is fair enough.
“I am pretty sure there are also some players who don’t think I am the best bloke or whatever it is, but as long as they work hard and do everything they can on the pitch then I am happy.
“Is the feeling better if everyone is aligned and happy and likes each other? Probably. But it is all about the performances on the pitch. In general in his [Romero’s] time here – and I have not seen every single game before I was in charge – the ones I have been in charge of, he has been exceptional. I think he has had some unbelievable big games for us, not only defensively but he has also scored some crucial goals.”
Frank added that there is “always a line that you can’t cross”, but refused to say whether Romero’s latest social media post represented a crossing of that line.
The under-pressure coach also objected to suggestions that his captain was speaking for the wider squad when he wrote his post, saying: “I think it’s one person speaking up. We don’t know if he speaks on behalf of all the players. That’s your perception, but we don’t know that.
“I think the beauty of written text is that you can read a lot into it and nobody really knows what was the purpose of it, except Cuti [Romero] or the guys who have spoken to him. And everything is dealt with internally.”
Frank had previously said players cannot “make the same mistake twice” in relation to Romero’s social media activity. On Thursday he said: “I think sometimes someone does [make] more than one mistake. We have dealt with it internally.
“Leadership is many things. I’m 52 years old. I think I’m pretty good at leadership. Can I get better every single day? Yes. Do I make mistakes? Maybe not every single day but probably weekly. Romero is 27-years-old. Is he still going to make mistakes going forward as a leader? Yes. Does he do a lot of good things? Yes.”