Cristian Romero: Tottenham defender ‘apologised’ after comments on club’s owners

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou says defender Cristian Romero has apologised for criticising the club’s owners.

The Argentine centre-back lamented the lack of investment by the club in recent times during an interview with Spanish broadcaster Telemundo Deportes on Sunday after his side’s disappointing 4-3 loss to Chelsea, having led 2-0.

Romero, who joined Spurs permanently in 2022 after a season-long loan from Atalanta, said “something is going wrong, hopefully, they [the board] realise it”, when discussing the spending of other clubs compared to Tottenham.

Postecoglou said: “He realises that a lot of what he said was good but some wasn’t the right way of dealing with it. The same way I wouldn’t criticise a player publicly.

“I’ve spoken to Cristian about it and he’s apologised for it. It wasn’t the right way to do it. It shows he cares. There’s a way to do it and this wasn’t it.”

Romero and centre-back partner Micky van de Ven both returned to Tottenham’s line-up for the defeat by Chelsea after injuries.

But the 26-year-old was taken off in the 15th minute following another setback, while Dutchman Van de Ven was also substituted 11 minutes from time.

Both will miss Thursday’s Europa League fixture against Rangers at Ibrox, although Postecoglou does not know how long they will be on the sidelines for this time.

“We’re still getting some clarity around the prognosis,” he added. “Both have picked up injuries that will keep them out again.

“That’s disappointing for us because obviously we’re pretty thin on numbers. We’ve had to deal with that for quite a while now.”

Midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur, who is currently serving a domestic suspension for a racial slur against team-mate Son Heung-min, is set to feature against the Scottish side as he is available for Europa League matches.