The appointment of new Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank has reportedly convinced a world-class Spurs star to abandon his plans to quit the club this summer in a shock U-turn.
Frank was officially introduced as the club’s replacement for Ange Postecoglou on Wednesday and attempted to get the fans immediately on-side with his claim that Tottenham will play “aggressive, front-footed football” during his tenure.
While fans appear to have taken the Dane well, there have been some major players who were left livid at Daniel Levy’s decision to axe Postecoglou after he guided the club to their first trophy in 18 years – namely skipper Son Heung-min and vice-captains James Maddison and Cristian Romero.
The former looks increasingly likely to leave this summer, after Tottenham decided to cash in on the South Korean while he still has a year left on his contract. However, it appears that Romero has now made a complete U-turn on his own future.
The World Cup winner, described as “spectacular” by Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni, has been heavily linked with a move to LaLiga giants Atletico Madrid over the past few months, having publically admitted his desire to play in Spain.
However, according to reports emanating from his homeland, Romero has now been convinced to remain in north London – with several factors playing a part in his decision.
Top Argentinian outlet TyC Sports states that Romero is intrigued by Frank’s appointment and the difference he could make to the current Tottenham team, especially defensively, where they often struggled under Postecoglou.
Spurs returning to the Champions League is also a major factor for the 27-year-old, who remains under contract until 2027, while his £70m-plus price tag is known to have created an issue for Atletico anyway.
Keeping Romero alongside Micky van de Ven would be a tremendous boost for Frank, if that proves to be the case. However, it needs to be the Romero who was named Man of the Match in the Europa League final and who impressed so much in Postecoglou’s first campaign in charge, and not the one who struggled massively for consistency in the Premier League last season.
Frank outlines his vision for Tottenham
Frank, meanwhile, has vowed to stick to the Tottenham principles of attacking football as he prepares for the biggest challenge of his successful career so far.
The Dane guided Brentford to a 10th-placed finish last season and is renowned for his ability to change tactics to suit opponents, especially when facing the bigger clubs – games he has enjoyed success in.
And speaking to Tottenham TV, he said: “I know the ethos and the history of the club is massive on attacking football and there is so much attacking talent in the squad.
“I’m very, very big on principles … what we do in the final third in terms of creating chances, crosses, bring balls in the box, play [in] behind.
“I always say this one-liner: if you don’t take risks, you also take risks. So it’s important we take risks. Risk is you need to play forward. If you don’t risk the ball, you can’t create things. We need to be brave.
“For me, if they lose the ball by trying, it’s never a problem. But if they don’t work hard? I struggle more with that. That’s my non-negotiable. We need to take risks. If we don’t take risks, it’s impossible to achieve something big.”
