Cristian Romero has been ruled out for four to five weeks with a hamstring strain to deepen Ange Postecoglou’s selection problems at Tottenham.
The influential centre-half, 25, was forced off at half-time in the win against Everton on Saturday and a scan has confirmed the club’s worst fears over the damage. Romero had returned from a three-match ban for the defeat by West Ham on 7 December, having been sent off in the loss to Chelsea on 6 November.
Postecoglou will miss him again at a time when his other first-choice central defender, Micky van de Ven, is out with the hamstring injury he suffered in the Chelsea game. Postecoglou hopes to have Van de Ven back in mid‑January, possibly for the Manchester United match on 14 January, although that is not 100% clear. Romero had been struggling with an injury before Spurs went to Nottingham Forest on 15 December, only to start and play the 90 minutes.
“It’s not so great with Romero,” Postecoglou said. “He had a scan the other day. He’s got a hamstring strain. So we’re looking at probably four weeks, five weeks for him. It’s disappointing to lose him, for sure. We obviously missed him with the suspension and now, we’d just got him back and kind of steadied things up and obviously we have him missing again for quite a chunk of time.”
Postecoglou’s only other specialist senior centre-half is Eric Dier and the manager has already said he will look to strengthen in the position in January. He also has the 18-year-olds Ashley Phillips and Alfie Dorrington, neither of whom has played for the team. Postecoglou, who will have the left‑back Destiny Udogie available after suspension for the game at Brighton on Thursday, has used the full-backs Ben Davies and Emerson Royal in central defence.
Postecoglou said Romero’s injury did not change anything in terms of January. “You can’t accelerate time,” he said. “It’s still December. January 1st stays January 1st irrespective of our situation. The plans and the planning is still in the same shape.”
Spurs have an interest in Genoa’s 21-year-old Romania centre‑half, Radu Dragusin, with reports in Italy saying that a deal is close. They have also been linked to Bournemouth’s Lloyd Kelly and Fulham’s Tosin Adarabioyo; both are poised to become free agents in the summer.
What Postecoglou made plain was his desire for the club to make their moves early in January. “I don’t know if it’s possible because there’s just so many moving parts,” he said. “If we can do business early it’s great for us. Not just because of losing Romero but there’s a whole month there – why waste it?
“If you leave it towards the end of January, it’s potentially not until mid to end of February when the signings get up to speed, depending on the league they’re coming from. You’ve got to play the game, we’ll see what happens but I’m hopeful it will be much earlier than the end of the window before we bring someone in.”
On Van de Ven, Postecoglou said: “He’s getting closer. We’ll see him sometime in January. I don’t think Burnley [in the FA Cup on 5 January] but Man United on the 14th, I think potentially. But I don’t look at comeback dates until I see them training with us and he’s not part of the group. He’s not due to be part of the group this week, He’s at the tail end of it for sure, so at some point … middle of January definitely we’d think he’d be available but how we use him then, after such a long absence, is going to depend on where we feel he’s at.”
Postecoglou will lose his captain, Son Heung-min, to Asian Cup duty with South Korea in early January and it is increasingly likely he will depart after the Bournemouth game on New Year’s Eve, so missing the Burnley Cup tie.
Pape Sarr and Yves Bissouma will also leave for the Africa Cup of Nations in early January, where they will link up with Senegal and Mali respectively. Bissouma is one game into a four-match ban with Spurs.
The club have recalled the striker Dane Scarlett from an unsuccessful loan at Ipswich. The 19-year-old, who made 12 substitute appearances and failed to score, will remain at Spurs for the rest of the season. He played in their Carabao Cup loss to Fulham in August and so cannot play for a third club during the season.
