Tottenham defender Cristian Romero has criticised the club’s board for a lack of investment following the disappointing 4-3 loss at home to Chelsea.
Spurs let a 2-0 lead slip on Sunday and Ange Postecoglou’s side have now won just one of their past seven games in all competitions.
Speaking to Spanish broadcaster Telemundo Deportes following the defeat, Argentina international Romero said a lack of spending is seeing the club fall behind their rivals.
“Manchester City competes every year, you see how Liverpool strengthens its squad, Chelsea strengthens their squad, doesn’t do well, strengthens again, and now they’re seeing results. Those are the things to imitate,” said Romero.
“You have to realise that something is going wrong, hopefully, they [the board] realise it.”
The result against London rivals Chelsea left Tottenham in the bottom half of the Premier League table, sitting 11th after 15 games.
Similar runs of form have seen Spurs part ways with managers in recent years, but Romero believes the board should take the blame rather than Postecoglou.
The Australian is the fifth manager, including caretakers, that the 26-year-old has played under since arriving in 2021.
“The last few years, it’s always the same – first the players, then the coaching staff changes, and it’s always the same people responsible,” said Romero, in an interview translated from Spanish.
“Hopefully they realise who the true responsible ones are and we move forward because it’s a beautiful club that, with the structure it has, could easily be competing for the title every year.”
Speaking in Spanish, Romero gave an interview live on Spanish TV, to a reporter from Telemundo Deportes, in which the defender was asked a question about Tottenham’s squad depth.
The interview went out live on TV and was published as a text article and video clip online.
However, a link to the full Romero interview initially published on Telemundo Deportes’ website now only directs readers to a page saying: “We’re sorry. The page you are looking for is no longer available.”
Part of the interview – where Romero praised Postecoglou – was widely quoted in the aftermath of the game, including on BBC Sport.
But the more critical quotes emerged more slowly, with British media starting to report the translated version on Monday night.
Spurs reported losses of £86.8m in April, covering their finances for the 2022-23 season – the most up to date financial data available publicly.
Total revenue increased by 24% from 2022 to a record-high £549.6m, with matchday income reaching a record £117.6m.
But they reported a loss for the fourth successive year following the 2022 deficit of £50.1m.
Daniel Levy, who has been chairman since 2001, said the club were looking for “prospective investors”.
“To continue to invest in the teams and undertake future capital projects, the club requires a significant increase in its equity base,” he said.
Spurs sold England captain and record goalscorer Harry Kane to Bayern Munich for 100m euros (£86.4m) in August, but that deal fell outside the financial window and will be included in the 2023-24 accounts.
Journalist Rory Smith defended Levy on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club, praising the “sustainable” way he runs the club.
In 2022-23, Tottenham spent £148.4m on transfers according to Transfermarkt, while in 2023-24 – Postecoglou’s first season in charge – they spent £224.5m.
This summer, the club spent £122.8m on the likes of Sweden midfielder Lucas Bergvall (£8.5m), English midfielder Archie Gray (£30m) and England striker Dominic Solanke (£65m).
“The way Spurs is run is sustainable and ultimately that’s good, that’s what clubs should be doing,” said Smith.
“Spurs’ business in the summer was very future focused – Bergvall is 19 years old, Gray is 19 – those are smart signings.
“Solanke is probably overpriced because he’s English and 27 but he is a proven Premier League goalscorer and that’s what Spurs needed after losing Kane.”
Former Tottenham midfielder Andros Townsend said Levy’s work at Tottenham “goes under the radar”.
“If you look at what Daniel Levy has done and take it out of this era and put it, 20, 30, 40 years ago, he’d be the best chairman in the world – there would be a statue outside the stadium of him,” said Townsend.
“But because he’s competing with Saudi owners, Qatari owners, American owners – all billionaires where they can just spend, spend, spend – his achievements go under the radar.”
Pundit Jamie Carragher told Sky Sports he believes Levy should be replaced.
Since Levy took over Spurs have won just one trophy – the Carabao Cup in 2008.
In September 2023, Levy said he would be “open” to selling his stake if it was in the best interest of the club.
His family are 29.88% investors in Spurs’ majority shareholder ENIC, who owns 86.58% of the club.
Levy oversaw the opening of the club’s £1bn stadium in 2019.
“It’s probably time for somebody else to come in because to not win a trophy in that period of time with the managers they have had, they’ve never really gone out of their way in the transfer market,” said Carragher.
“Now that work’s done in terms of a stadium and a training ground, someone else needs to be in charge of this football club.”
Season ticket prices for this season saw a rise of 6% with the most affordable adult season ticket costing £856, up from £807.
