De Zerbi Discusses Romero Exit Agreement

Roberto De Zerbi has laid bare the agreement that paved the way for Cristian Romero’s decision to walk away from Spurs, insisting he would never stand in the defender’s way after a promise made in his first days at the club.

When De Zerbi arrived in April, with the club staring down the barrel, he sat everyone down. One by one.

“At the beginning of my time, in April, I had, I don’t know, one million individual meetings,” he said, as quoted by Metro. The message in those talks was blunt and simple: give everything to keep the team up, and the manager would not block an exit if a player wanted a new challenge.

“[The players] told me what was their idea. I said: ‘Yes, help me to stay up, and then I help you to leave’. If you don’t help me to stay up, you stay underwater with me!”

Romero, De Zerbi made clear, more than held up his end of the bargain.

“Romero with me was unbelievable. Top, in his behaviour, his respect, he suffered when he did not play the last game,” the Spurs head coach said. The Argentine’s attitude, not just his ability, clearly left a mark.

De Zerbi also moved to shut down suggestions that Romero had checked out early to focus on international duty.

“It is not true that he wanted to leave for Argentina to prepare for their World Cup. It’s not true.”

The relationship, he stressed, remained respectful right to the end. Even after the semi-final against England, the pair exchanged messages, but there were no desperate phone calls, no last-ditch pleas.

“After the semi-final [against England] we text a message, but I never called him to convince him to stay. I respected what he told me. Like for [Guglielmo] Vicario, like for every player.”

For De Zerbi, the principle is clear: talent is prized, but a player’s will comes first.

“Romero as a player is one of the best centre-backs in the world, but at the end I said I want to respect the will of the players.”

A manager who survived by asking for total commitment is now living up to his word, even when it means losing one of his best.