Cristian Romero has said it is ­“disgraceful” that Tottenham are operating with such a threadbare squad in an apparent dig at the club’s January recruitment strategy.

The club captain is no stranger to outspoken social media posts and he dropped another one on Monday evening shortly after the closure of the mid-season transfer window.

Spurs made two signings during it – Conor Gallagher from Atlético Madrid for £34.6m and Souza, the 19-year-old left-back prospect, from Santos for £13m. They sold Brennan Johnson to Crystal Palace for £35m.

Thomas Frank has been down to the bones of his squad because of an injury crisis; the manager was without 11 players for the visit of Manchester City on Sunday. Romero made himself available despite feeling ill but he was forced off at half-time. Spurs were 2-0 down at the time but they battled back to draw 2-2 with two goals from Dominic Solanke.

Romero did not hide his frustration when he took to Instagram. “Great effort from all my teammates yesterday, they were all incredible,” he said. “I wanted to be available to help them even though I wasn’t feeling well, especially as we had only 11 players available – unbelievable...