Frank is already building his squadplaceholder image
Frank is already building his squad | Getty Images
Tottenham could consider cutting ties with an outspoken player this summer.
Tottenham should be considering selling one of their starting players this summer. Thomas Frank is now in charge at Spurs, and he has a big job ahead of him. The Dane must take Spurs from a team that finished in the bottom quartile of the Premier League and ensure they are good enough to compete for European qualification, and he must also make sure his side compete well in the Champions League.
But Frank must also oversee a culture change of sorts at Tottenham. He is going to have to command authority from day one and let the players know he will be putting his own stamp on the squad, and that is particularly important because the players did like Ange Postecoglou until the end. It’s a tough job for a coach to come in on the back of a sacking the players did not agree with.
Frank is going to have to win the players over early, and there are already some issues to deal with. One of them is defender Cristian Romero. While the Argentina international is a clear starter, he has arguably never reached his true potential in a Tottenham shirt.
On top of that, Romero has been critical of the Tottenham board, previously saying: “Manchester City competes every year, you see how Liverpool strengthens its squad, Chelsea strengthens their squad, doesn't do well, strengthens again, and now they're seeing results. Those are the things to imitate.
"You have to realise that something is going wrong, hopefully, they [the board] realise it. The last few years, it's always the same - first the players, then the coaching staff changes, and it's always the same people responsible. Hopefully they realise who the true responsible ones are and we move forward because it's a beautiful club that, with the structure it has, could easily be competing for the title every year."
Romero later apologised for that, but he has also admitted that he would like to play in Spain in the future. He said: “Well, I try, above all else, to always live day by day. There are almost two months left until the end of the season, and my focus is always on performing at my best and trying to finish in the best way possible...after this, when the season ends, we’ll see. Honestly, I haven’t spoken with my agent yet, but I’m open to anything. My mindset is always about growing, also about going to new places to keep developing, but I don’t want to talk about that just yet because there are still a few months left before the season ends.”
He added: “Yes, the league I’m missing is Spain’s. I’d love to, honestly. La Liga. I’d love to play there because it’s the one I haven’t played in yet.”
Time to cut ties
Romero has been heavily linked with a move to Spain, and there have been endless links between him and the Iberian country, with Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid the main two clubs to have been linked.
All things considered, it might well be time for Frank to move on from Romero and bring in the cash for his services, which is likely to be more than £60million. That money could pay for England international Marc Guehi this summer, a player Spurs have unsuccessfully bid for in the past. A quick and efficient replacing of Romero would be a strong statement for Frank as he looks to put his stamp on his new team.
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