Thomas Frank has claimed he is planning for his first season at Tottenham with captain Son Heung-min and vice-captain Cristian Romero in mind.
Son and Romero linked with exitsSouth Korean has one year left on contractFrank tight-lipped on gossipFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Both players have been tipped to leave Spurs during the summer transfer window. Son has less than 12 months left on his current contract, while Romero is tied down for another two years and has been heavily courted by Atletico Madrid in recent months.
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Speculation over the duo, who recently returned for pre-season training, has continued to mount. However, Frank has claimed he is looking to the short term with them in mind, though made no guarantees over their futures.
WHAT FRANK SAID
Frank told a press conference on Friday: "Two top players. Sonny has been here for 10 years and finally got his well deserved trophy in the summer. Cristian Romero, World Cup winner, Copa America winner twice, very important for us. Both have trained well and set the standards. Both will play tomorrow [against Reading] and I'm very happy."
Son was named club captain by previous head coach Ange Postecoglou, with Romero one of three vice captains alongside James Maddison and Guglielmo Vicario. But Frank has claimed he will have the final say over the captaincy for the new campaign even if the incumbent leaders retain the armband in pre-season.
"I haven't decided on [who the captain is] yet," he added. "I have a long list of bullet points to get through. [Son] was captain last season and tomorrow we'll have two 45 minutes and Son and Romero will be the captains in both. I haven't decided on the captain yet."
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Tottenham fans will get a first glimpse of Frank's team in action on Saturday when they head to League One side Reading in a friendly. Further tests will come against Luton Town, Arsenal and Newcastle United before they face Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup.