Cristian Romero, let’s face it, isn’t everybody’s idea of Captain Marvel.
Too reckless is one accusation in a season when he has collected two red cards and 11 yellows.
He has missed seven Tottenham games through suspension and after his caution at Sunderland on Sunday was teetering on the cusp of another two-match ban when his Premier League season skidded to a premature end.
Too restless is another as he flutters eyelashes once more in the hope of attracting the move to Spain he seems to yearn for, despite signing a lucrative new contract in August.
Atletico Madrid are reported to be interested. Just as they were last year when they failed to table a bid and cooled on the idea before Romero committed to Spurs until 2029.
Too rebellious is another based upon his habit of taking aim at the club via his social media posts, which have variously criticised the medical department or the transfer policy.
He even accused unnamed people in the hierarchy of ‘lies’ but deleted that part.
Since signing from Atalanta in 2021 there have been times when representing Argentina seemed to be more important to him than pulling on the colours of the London club.
When Thomas Frank gave Romero the captain’s armband he was not spoiled for choice and yet for all that, this injury is a serious blow to Spurs and Roberto De Zerbi’s plans to keep them up.
Romero is an extremely good central defender, although even that is not the main factor because they have Kevin Danso and Radu Dragusin fit again.
Neither Danso nor Dragusin would oust Romero from the back four, of course, but they are solid, especially if instructed to simply defend rather than try to pass the ball out from the back.
There could be a case to make that Spurs would be defensively stronger with one of these two beside Micky van de Ven in the heart of the defence, rather than Romero on his battle charges when he sees fit.
But it is about what Romero symbolises to his teammates, and especially younger ones.
He has won the World Cup as part of Lionel Messi’s Argentina team. He is a proven winner and very few in this Spurs dressing room exude the courage to compete as the man they call Cuti.
He has the fearless warrior mode required for the battle ahead, which De Zerbi recognised when he swept in and made such a fuss of him.
‘Cuti is crucial for us, crucial for Tottenham,’ said the Spurs boss, unequivocal in an interview with US broadcasters NBC, the first interview with non-Spurs media after taking the job.
‘He is the captain. He is maybe the most important player in our squad. To achieve our goal, we need the best of Romero.’
Then, 70 minutes into De Zerbi’s first game, his skipper was gone, sobbing as he limped off having damaged medial knee ligaments in a collision with his own goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky.
His World Cup dream may still flicker but he will not carry the Spurs standard into this survival fight.
He will not play again this season and De Zerbi will have to find another battlefield leader among his beleaguered squad.
Good luck with that one because the scarcity of them is central to the plight they are in.
