Thomas Frank sat in front of the press on Thursday and said something managers never say unless they already know the answer. Asked if Cristian Romero would still be at Tottenham next season, Frank replied: "That's a question I have no idea about."
Come off it, Thomas. You know. I know. The bloke in the Bricklayers Arms on Tottenham High Road knows. Cuti Romero is gone this summer, and the only remaining question is whether it's Barcelona, Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid who write the cheque.
The Instagram grenade
Romero's latest Instagram post landed like a brick through the chairman's window. Hours after the winter transfer deadline passed with Spurs failing to bring in a single senior signing, the club captain wrote: "We only had 11 players available – unbelievable but true and disgraceful."
Disgraceful. The captain of your football club used that word about your squad depth. On social media. For everyone to see. And this was not a one-off. In January, after the 3-2 loss at Bournemouth, Romero posted a cryptic dig about "lies" from senior figures at the club. That's twice in five weeks your skipper has gone public. That tells you everything about where this relationship stands.
Frank, to his credit, did not throw Romero under the bus entirely. He described him as "passionate" and said the situation had been "dealt with internally." But he also admitted he would not have handled it the same way, and refused to say whether Romero had been fined. The body language was clear enough.
Nine injuries and one loan of a Scottish teenager
Here is what makes this whole thing so frustrating if you're a Spurs fan: Romero is not wrong. Nine players have been injured since the start of 2026. The squad is running on fumes. Frank is picking from the dregs and hoping nobody else pulls a hamstring in the warm-up. And what did ENIC do on deadline day? They signed 18-year-old James Wilson for the under-21s. On loan.
Frank tried to defend the recruitment. "We made two good signings in Xavi Simons and Mohammed Kudus in the summer, and a good loan in João Palhinha, so it's not as though we don't want to strengthen," he said. "It was a big signing with Conor Gallagher. I know the club is very ambitious."
Ambitious. That word does a lot of heavy lifting at Spurs these days. They sold Brennan Johnson to Crystal Palace in January and replaced him with fresh air. They sit 14th in the Premier League, nine points above the drop zone. They qualified for the Champions League knockout stage thanks to the Europa League triumph, but the league form is dire. Three points from five outings in January. Romero watching this unfold while being told the cavalry is coming in summer must feel like Groundhog Day.
Barcelona, Real Madrid and the Spanish dream
According to TEAMtalk, Barcelona and Real Madrid are both serious about Romero. Atletico Madrid, where fellow Argentine Diego Simeone has long admired the defender, are lurking too. Romero signed a contract extension until 2029 just last August, so Spurs are not under pressure to sell cheap. Previous valuations have been in the £70-80 million range, which would make him the most expensive Argentine defender in history, overtaking Lisandro Martinez's £57m move to Manchester United.
But money is not the issue for Romero. He told Argentine media last year that he wanted to play in Spain before he retires. "I still need to play in Spain to compete in all the strong leagues," he said on Los Edul. That is not a man dropping hints. That is a man packing his bags.
Argentine journalist Gastón Edul has reported that Romero had interest from La Liga as far back as last summer and that clubs "came close to a formal offer." His departure this June now seems almost certain.
Frank's poker face is slipping
I have some sympathy for Frank. He inherited this mess from Ange Postecoglou, who left Spurs in the kind of state you'd expect from a manager who played expansive football with a squad held together by hope and physio tape. Frank has tried to bring structure. The Champions League results have been decent. But the league is where it counts for the fans who pay through the nose for season tickets at that shiny stadium, and right now the league is a disaster.
When Frank says "I am pretty sure there are also some players who don't think I am the best bloke," it sounds honest. Maybe too honest. He also noted that "it's one person speaking up, we don't know if he speaks on behalf of all the players." A fair point, except that Xavi Simons, Conor Gallagher and Dominic Solanke all liked Romero's Instagram post. Draw your own conclusions from that.
What happens next
Spurs travel to Old Trafford on Saturday to face a Manchester United side on a three-game winning streak under Michael Carrick. Kevin Danso, Richarlison, Pedro Porro, Lucas Bergvall, Rodrigo Bentancur, Mohammed Kudus, Ben Davies, Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison are all unavailable. Solanke is a doubt. It is not a pretty picture.
If Romero goes, Spurs will reportedly look to bring Luka Vuskovic, currently on loan at Hamburg, into the first-team picture. Bayern Munich are monitoring the young centre-back. So even the succession plan has a competing bidder.
The summer of 2026 was supposed to be about a "massive rebuild." That is what club insiders have promised Romero. The problem is, he has heard this song before. Every Spurs fan has heard this song before. And at some point, you stop believing the lyrics.
