Cristian Romero is a player who will always carry mixed feelings from the Tottenham Hotspur faithful, because while he was a great player on his day and instrumental to Spurs winning the Europa League in 2024/25 as the literal Player of the Tournament, he was a horrible captain who quit on the team, caused drama, and nearly led Spurs down a path to relegation.
Even after getting the dream transfer he flirted with for years in Atletico Madrid, Romero can't help but continue to antagonize Spurs fans. His latest snafu was betraying his former Tottenham teammate Harry Kane, who scored 73 goals in the 2025/26 season in all competitions and is the clear best pick to win his first career Ballon d'Or and finally get rewarded for being under recognized as an elite all around striker.
Instead of backing Kane to win the Ballon d'Or, Cristian Romero has thrown his hat in the ring for Lionel Messi. Now, while it is understandable, on some level, for an Argentinian player to support Messi no matter what, there is no way Messi justifiably wins the Ballon d'Or when he spent the 2025/26 season in MLS. No MLS player has ever been a serious Ballon d'Or candidate, nor should they be, and as good as he was at the World Cup, it's not like he did anything against Spain in the Final that he lost.
Cristian Romero's argument makes no sense
Instead of giving Harry Kane huge support and backing a former teammate of his who 100 percent deserves his first career Ballon d'Or, Romero has betrayed the England international by backing a player who already has the record of Ballons d'Or (many of them totally undeserved, especially in his latter years) and clearly does not merit it this season while in MLS.
Romero said of Messi, via Fabrizio Romano, “The Ballon d'Or should be given to Leo Messi. Until he retires, that’s clear. There is no one like him. Surely when he decides not to play anymore, then we will have to see who to give it to!”
Basically, Romero's argument boils down to the same lazy, illogical argument that is always given in support of Lionel Messi winning the Ballon d'Or: Messi should win because he is Messi and there is no other Messi than Messi. And until he retires, it should only be Messi.
That's what makes it even worse. Romero can overlook Kane like this and not even have a logical argument, but, well, that's because there is no logical argument for taking Messi over Kane.
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