New Tottenham captain? Spurs told what they ‘don’t need’ from next skipper as Toby Alderweireld explains qualities that Cristian Romero’s successor must have

World Cup-winning Argentina international Romero is, after five years in north London, being heavily linked with Serie A giants Inter. Atletico Madrid have also been credited with interest in the no-nonsense centre-half.

Spurs are seemingly willing to listen to offers for the 28-year-old, who has taken in 156 appearances for them. The mercurial South American was named captain at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium heading into the 2025-26 campaign.

He did not enjoy the best of times, as a second successive 17th-place finish in the Premier League was taken in. Romero also attracted criticism at the end of the season when heading back to his homeland - although he did return to watch a crucial victory over Everton from the stands.

If he is to move on in the current transfer window, could the armband be passed to his centre-half partner Van de Ven? Quizzed on whether the Dutchman should be next man up, Alderweireld - speaking in association with Hajper - told GOAL: “Micky van de Ven seems like a good guy to me and that’s important but the captain needs to be someone who wants to stay at Tottenham Hotspur.

“He needs to be clear that he’s here to stay for the next couple of years. Show them he’s the guy you can trust. That’s what they need. We don't need anyone who is a captain but maybe thinking about leaving.”

If Van de Ven is not first in the queue, then who is? Asked if Maddison and Kulusevski - who are returning to prominence following long-term injury absences - form part of that pack, ex-Spurs defender Alderweireld added on an important decision: “For me, people talk a lot about captains and what they need to do but sometimes you have what I call alibi captains. They’re the ones who make being the captain a performance, throwing their hands around and shouting and pointing a lot.

“For me, a captain is a player who you can count on to perform. They always deliver a seven or an eight out of 10. They’re not throwing in a three or a four out of 10. How can someone tell you what to do if they’re performing badly too?

“The first thing you need, no matter your position on the pitch, is to perform and perform consistently on a good level, and then it’s about helping your team-mates as well. You need to speak to them and get to know them because it’s not only on the pitch when a team needs their captain, it’s off the pitch as well.

“When I was captain at Royal Antwerp, if someone was struggling with something, I spoke to them. That’s why sometimes you need to have some age too to have the right sense and feeling of what’s happening around you. You need to be able to tell some players to take it easy and their time will come if they’re not playing, to work hard for the opportunities.

“Being a captain is about more than shouting and showing people look at me, I'm very busy. You need to perform and to help, even away from the cameras. That’s where you prove you’re a good captain, when you’re not on camera.”

Tottenham are in the process of completing their pre-season campaign, with big money having been spent in the summer transfer window as the likes of Mateus Fernandes, Sandro Tonali, Jan Paul van Hecke and Andy Robertson are welcomed to north London.

Roberto De Zerbi is preparing for his first full season at the helm, having overseen a successful survival push, and will be counting down the days to a meeting with Brentford on August 22 - with it possible that a new skipper will have been officially appointed by then.