Ange Postecoglou has not been able to use Cristian Romero at Tottenham for some time now.
The Argentina international last appeared for Spurs in the 4-3 defeat against Chelsea on December 8th, a game in which he suffered a torn quadricep, while Micky van de Ven was also forced off injured.
Romero is close to returning after spending almost three months on the sidelines – with Tottenham giving the South American as much time as he needs to ensure another setback doesn’t occur.
However – with the international break on the horizon – Ange Postecoglou faces a difficult conversation with Cristian Romero.
Cristian Romero may want to partake in FIFA World Cup qualifiers
The Tottenham No.17 is very passionate about playing for his country.
Romero even expressed a desire to play for Argentina at the Olympic Games last summer – despite a gruelling 2023/24 campaign – saying: “I would like to be in the Olympic Games. I never had the chance to be there. Anything for the national team, obviously I would like to be there.”
Postecoglou was not a fan of that idea, retorting: “Certainly from our behalf as a club, we’ll always be looking at making sure there is a balance there. He hasn’t spoken to me about it, no one has spoken to me about it but I guess pretty strong advice would be, with the Copa America at the same time and hopefully us gearing up for a big season next year, I’d be suggesting rest is a better policy.”
Romero ended up not going to Paris for the tournament – although a reoccurrence of this delicate subject could soon happen, with Argentina scheduled to play two FIFA World Cup qualifiers on 21st March and 26th March against Uruguay and Brazil respectively.
These games will fall just after the Argentine returns to full fitness – barring any late setback – so Postecoglou will surely be wary of allowing one of his best players to take part in international duty, especially as Tottenham have a good chance of winning the UEFA Europa League this season.
Tottenham value Cristian Romero highly as contract plans made clear
The 26-year-old is highly thought of in N17.
TBR Football understand Tottenham are even ready to offer Romero a new contract on better terms than club captain Heung-min Son, with his current terms set to expire in June 2027.
However, the man from Cordoba is concerned by Tottenham’s lack of progress since his arrival from Atalanta in August 2021 – so Spurs will need to do some persuading.