Tottenham Hotspur reportedly have ‘a future captain’ on their hands in the form of centre-back Cristian Romero, according to Sky Sports pundit Paul Robinson.
The Lowdown: Romero off to a great start at Spurs
The 24-year-old first joined the Premier League giants from Atalanta last summer and has since gone on to make 29 appearances for the Lilywhites, most recently in Spurs’ 3-1 victory against Leicester City last weekend.
The Argentine has delivered some impressive performances of late in the top flight, and the former Spurs goalkeeper believes that Romero would make a perfect candidate to replace Hugo Lloris as club captain when the veteran Frenchman departs.
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The Latest: Romero could be future Spurs captain
When asked if he thought the defender had the potential to be a future skipper in the capital, Robinson told Football Insider:
“Romero looks like he has a lot of leadership which is great to see at such a young age. His performances on the pitch and relationship with his teammates show that. I don’t know to what extent language is a barrier but he looks a future captain to me.
“They will not take the captaincy off of Hugo, there is no call for that but whenever he choses to leave there will be a decision to make.
“If Romero is still at the club I can see him stepping up. I’m not talking about anytime in the immediate future but perhaps in a few years time.”
The Verdict: Beast at the back
The £29k-per-week Argentine has been an absolute rock at the heart of the Spurs defence since slotting into the starting XI, averaging three clearances, 2.9 tackles and 1.5 interceptions per league game this season, via WhoScored.
Romero has been hailed as “outstanding” by BBC columnist Jonathan Woodgate and still has plenty of his prime years ahead of him, quite possibly growing into an even better player in the years to come.
Antonio Conte will need all of his defensive experience available to him should he want Tottenham to secure a top-four finish at the end of the season, and the 6 foot 1 colossus could help him do just that with only four games left to go.
In terms of leading by example, Romero is doing that with his performances, so perhaps Robinson is right in name-checking him as Lloris' possible successor for the armband at Spurs.
In other news… Spurs have officially opened negotiations for one of their ‘fantastic’ transfer targets