De Zerbi Discusses Romero Exit Agreement: Help Me Stay Up, I Help You Leave

Roberto De Zerbi has laid bare the agreement that paved the way for Cristian Romero’s decision to move on from Spurs, insisting he will not stand in the defender’s way after a promise made in his first days at the club.

The Italian arrived in April and immediately set about understanding the dressing room he had inherited. That meant a whirlwind of one-to-one conversations.

“At the beginning of my time, in April, I had, I don’t know, one million individual meetings,” De Zerbi said, as quoted by Metro. “And [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!”

It was blunt. It was clear. And it set the terms for what comes next.

Romero, De Zerbi stressed, more than kept his side 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. He moved quickly to shut down suggestions that the centre-back had angled for an early exit 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, De Zerbi explained, has remained honest even as Romero’s future shifted away from north London. The two exchanged messages after Argentina’s semi-final against England, but there was no late sales pitch from the manager, no emotional plea to reverse course.

“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,” De Zerbi said.

That stance comes with a cost. De Zerbi is fully aware of the calibre of player he is losing.

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

A coach who arrived fighting to keep Spurs afloat now faces the task of rebuilding without one of his outstanding performers — by choice, and by design, after a promise he refuses to break.