Spurs may already have a young Cristian Romero replacement in their ranks – TBR View

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Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt a huge blow as Spurs boss Antonio Conte confirmed that Cristian Romero won’t play again this year.

The Tottenham centre-back suffered a hamstring injury playing for Argentina in last month’s World Cup qualifier against Brazil.

Speaking ahead of Spurs’ Premier League meeting with Brentford, Conte admitted Romero’s injury is “very serious”.

He will miss at least 10 games between now and January 2, starting with Brentford at home on Thursday.

And Conte is unsure when Romero will be fit again.

“The news is not positive, the injury is serious,” Sky Sports quotes Conte as saying.

“It will take time before we see him again.

“Surely next year, we have to check his injury week by week, but the injury is serious.

“Now he is trying to recover, but he needs a long time to recover.

“It is a pity because he is an important player for us, the injury is very serious.

“I don’t know, January, February. But for 2021, he has finished [playing].

“We have to wait and recover well.”

With Romero set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines, Conte has some thinking to do.

Davinson Sanchez, Japhet Tanganga and Joe Rodon could cover for the Argentine, but they’ve struggled at times in recent weeks.

There is another potential option outside of the senior squad – an 18-year-old right-footed centre-back who already has 11 international caps to his name.

That player is Maksim Paskotsi, who has been making waves in the Spurs academy since joining in September 2020.

The Estonian had already debuted for Flora Tallinn’s senior team when he arrived at N17.

He marked his debut for Spurs’ Under-18s with a goal, an assist and a clean sheet – and he’s been progressing nicely since that superb start.

Paskotsi has already made his Tottenham senior debut, featuring against Pacos de Ferreira in the Conference League.

And since making his Estonia debut in March this year, he has already clocked up 11 senior caps.

Some Spurs fans have been impressed by his talent and development:

Therefore, if Conte isn’t convinced about his senior options at centre-back, he could certainly see what Paskotsi can offer.