Cristian Romero's injury is serious and will take time before we see him again, admits Antonio Conte
Antonio Conte has revealed that Cristian Romero’s hamstring injury is very serious and he will only be fit to play by January or February next year. The Italian manager also reiterated that the Argentine centre-back is an important player and will need a long time to recover from this injury.
Cristian Romero joined Spurs from Atalanta last summer after the Italian club activated their option to purchase the player from Juventus. The Argentine arrived at Spurs for a reported fee of £42 million and took his time to acclimatize to his new surroundings. That was especially the case as the London club looked to revamp their defense after the departures of Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld.
However, the Argentina international suffered a hamstring injury while playing for Argentina in last month's World Cup qualifier against Brazil in early November and at the time the injury was not feared to be a serious one but further tests have proven otherwise. Spurs will be without the services of their key defender as they navigate their way through a hectic run of fixtures this month and Conte revealed that Romero is expected to only return fit next year, somewhere in January.
"[On Romero] 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. Now he is trying to recover, he needs a long time. He needs time to recover. It's a pity because he's an important player for us but the injury is very serious. 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 told in his pre-match press conference.