Tottenham Hotspur captain Cristian Romero has been ruled out for the remainder of the campaign after suffering a partial tear to his medial cruciate ligament during Sunday's 1-0 loss at Sunderland.
The 27-year-old Argentine sustained the injury in an unfortunate collision with his goalkeeper, Antonin Kinsky, at the Stadium of Light.
Romero will require a minimum of six weeks to recover, although surgery will not be necessary and he has avoided a complete ligament rupture.
The defender's season at club level is over, with the Premier League campaign concluding next month on May 24.
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The incident occurred with approximately 20 minutes remaining when Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey pushed Romero into Kinsky, causing the defender to jar his knee awkwardly.
Medical staff attended to the Spurs captain on the pitch for eight minutes before it became clear he could not continue.
Kevin Danso was brought on as his replacement whilst Romero made his way to the touchline.
Although he managed to walk without requiring a stretcher, the World Cup winner was visibly distraught and could not contain his emotions as he limped off.
Tottenham captain Cristian Romero has been ruled out for the remainder of the campaign
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The distressing scenes initially led many observers to assume his tears were connected to Tottenham's worsening relegation predicament.
The injury now places Romero's participation in Argentina's World Cup defence in serious jeopardy.
Lionel Scaloni's squad are scheduled to begin their title defence on June 16 when they face Algeria in the tournament being hosted across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
With a recovery period of at least six weeks required, the timeline leaves precious little margin for error if Romero hopes to feature for the defending champions.
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The injury now places the defender's participation in Argentina's World Cup defence in serious jeopardy
|GETTY
Reports suggesting the centre-back will return in time for the tournament are understood to not be entirely accurate, casting further doubt over his international prospects this summer.
The defeat at Sunderland compounded Tottenham's troubles.
They now sit in 18th position and are two points from safety with just six matches remaining.
Losing Romero represents another significant setback for manager Roberto De Zerbi, who had already seen Mohammed Kudus suffer a fresh quad injury.
Cristian Romero has been a cornerstone of the defence during Argentina's most successful period in decades
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Speaking after the match, the Italian expressed his concern: "I hope for us it's not too important problem, because he's a crucial player for us, he's a good guy, good player, top player, big personality and we need him to finish the season and to achieve our goal."
Romero has featured 32 times for Spurs this term, with 23 of those appearances coming in the league.
He has registered six goals and three assists in all competitions this season.
Romero has also earned 49 caps and scored three goals for the Argentina national team as of April 2026.
He has been a cornerstone of the defence during Argentina's most successful period in decades, starting in the final of all three major trophies they recently won.
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