Tottenham: Roberto De Zerbi sends Cristian Romero message amid World Cup injury fears | OneFootball

Argentine limped off in De Zerbi’s debut defeat at Sunderland

Roberto De Zerbi hopes that Cristian Romero will be able to play some part for Argentina at the World Cup.

Romero was ruled out of Tottenham’s remaining Premier League games after suffering a knee injury during their 1-0 defeat to Sunderland two weeks ago.

The Spurs captain left the pitch at the Stadium of Light in tears, having collided with his own goalkeeper, Antonin Kinsky, shortly after Sunderland had taken a second-half lead.

Romero received lengthy treatment before making way for Kevin Danso, and when asked for an update on the defender’s fitness, De Zerbi confirmed last week that he would miss the rest of the domestic season.

With the World Cup less than 50 days away, fears remain that Romero might not be fit enough to make Argentina’s squad for this summer’s tournament in Mexico, Canada and the United States.

De Zerbi, though, is hopeful that the 49-cap central defender will be fit enough to play at least one or two games for Lionel Scaloni’s side.

“I hope. I don’t know if there is a chance to play one game, two games, I don’t know. I hope so. But I don’t know,” De Zerbi said.

“But for him, I would like it if he can be available to play in the World Cup, especially for an Argentinian player. They feel the national team more than Italian players or other nations.”

Mohammed Kudus has also been left sweating over his fitness ahead of the World Cup, having suffered a setback in his recovery from a serious quad injury.

Kudus, who has been out since January, will not play again for Spurs this season as they look to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

Spurs confirmed in a statement at the start of April that they were assessing whether the Ghana international would need to undergo surgery.

But when pressed on whether the club had made a decision, De Zerbi said he had yet to speak to the doctors, with attention firmly fixed on steering Spurs out of the relegation zone.

“I don’t know [if Kudus will require surgery],” the Italian continued.

“[I have] not spoken with the doctor about the Kudus situation.”