The Tottenham star has also been linked with an exit.
Tottenham Hotspur had dealt with Cristian Romero injury concerns along the 2025/26 season, which saw the Argentine also miss some of the vital games of the campaign in the Lilywhites’ survival pursuit.
And he did go into the ongoing World Cup in the United States having just nursed that knee injury. And it appears like his knee problems still continue to give him problems.
Romero recovered enough to be involved in Argentina’s opening two games of their World Cup campaign. But he aggravated the same knee in Argentina’s 2-0 win over Austria last week.
And Romero was quite explanatory about the problem that he has been facing. He said: “It’s my knee again. It’s the medial collateral ligament that’s bothering me quite a bit, but nothing, I’m going to play. I had already spoken with the doctor, but nothing, I’ll be back in a couple of days to help the team, and that’s all.”
He is also expected not to be available in Sunday’s final group game against Jordan, which is a sensible opportunity to rest him given Argentina is already through to the round of 32.
FA chief clarifies Romero injury news
After the game it was TyC Sports journalist Gaston Edul who took to social media (particularly X) to insist that the Tottenham center-back had undergone an MRI scan. He also went on to assure that the results of the scan “came back clear.” Edul also fortified that the Lilywhites’ center back can return to full training for his country on Sunday with the swelling that he had on his knee being significantly reduced.
And he should regain full fitness in time for Argentina’s round of thirty-two games.
But Chiqui Tapia, who is FA president for Argentina, was quick to take to X and reply to Edul for giving false claims as he went on to rail against the journo. Tapia clarified that despite the injury, Romero never underwent an MRI scan, which shows that the Tottenham man was never under any serious injury threat despite being subbed off against Austria. He said:
“Be serious when communicating, and when you do, tell the truth. The information being circulated is false: no MRI was performed.”
Chiqui Tapia reaction has layers to it…
The highlight of this news is not just about the injury report, but there is a more interesting backstory to it. As per Argentine publication Olé, Edul and Tapia have a sour relationship since both of them fell out in Copa America 2024.
And that is where this reply from Tapia makes sense.
It is quite rare to see a federation president coming out and denying an insignificant claim about a routine scan that players go through to determine the extent and seriousness of injury.
But then it starts making quite a lot of sense as soon as you start considering the kind of relationship that Tapia shares with Edul.
But for Tottenham, the good thing is nothing about that knee is serious right now. It can end up being decisive, especially given that Tottenham are looking to ship him off this summer following the arrival of Jan Paul van Hecke at N17.