Antonio Conte has confirmed that Tottenham Hotspur fans won’t be seeing Cristian Romero until 2022.
The Argentina centre-back picked up a hamstring injury on international duty last month.
Romero joined Tottenham on loan from Atalanta this past summer and had increasingly looked a solid signing by Fabio Paratici.
But the big man is sidelined until early next year.
Conte told Football London: “The news is not positive, not good. Because the injury is serious and I think it will take time before to see him again.
“Surely next year and we need to check his injury week by week but the injury is serious.”
When is Romero fit for Tottenham Hotspur?
It remains to be seen when Romero will be available for Conte again.
But the Italian manager did project that perhaps January or February is a realistic timeframe.
He added: “January, February I don’t know but 2021 is finished to play. We have to wait to recover well but the injury is serious.”
Conte really hammered home the news that it’s a ‘serious’ injury, which is no good.
This is additionally bad news for Tottenham because of the timing.
The December schedule is hectic in English football and rotation is key to emerging unscathed from it.
But Romero’s absence puts a lot of pressure on the likes of Davinson Sanchez, Eric Dier, Joe Rodon and Japhet Tanganga from here on in.
Conte has some good central defenders but, by the same token, some dodgy ones.
Without Romero, it could be a long winter for a Spurs side that already aren’t good enough in defence.
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