Erik Lamela was recently ruled out for the rest of the campaign with a hip injury, although it is highly suspected that the player has refused to play for the club in the hope of sealing a move back to Italian football. He has been linked with Roma for several months. Lamela was even spotted in the Italian capital a few months ago, however, the club have reportedly received an offer from Inter Milan for the 25-year-old.
Signed from Roma in the summer of 2013 for a mammoth £30 million, Lamela initially struggled to settle into English football. However, he was a major factor behind the club managing to finish in the Champions League qualification spots last season.
This campaign, however, he has been very sparsely seen by Spurs fans. Lamela has not played for the club since October. He has cited hip injury as a reason for his unavailability. Even though the winger is set to undergo a surgery in order to correct the issue, rumours have escalated in the last few weeks.
Inter Milan are very keen on revamping the team. After the appointment of Stefano Pioli, the club have been enjoying a new lease of life. Despite coming into the club only a few months ago, the Italian has been able to vastly improve the football.
Yet, there are continuing rumours that the 51-year-old will be replaced by Antonio Conte in the summer. Chelsea do look extremely keen on keeping Conte for the long-term and this could see Pioli remain in the job. The 51-year-old is a huge fan of Lamela, and he has reportedly been the reason behind Inter Milan showing plenty of interest in the 25-year-old.
Lamela had scored five goals and created nine assists in 28 starts last season. Lamela does not seem to be motivated by money, as he appears to be very keen on a return to Italian football. The striker spent two years at AS Roma following his move from River Plate before the switch to Spurs.
Even if he returns next season, Lamela faces a major fight in order to get back into the first-team. The likes of Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli, and Heung-Min Son have managed to establish themselves as the first-choice attacking players in support of Harry Kane.
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For God’s sake, please allow Lamela a chance! Granted that in his first season he wasn’t strong enough or quick enough (on the ball BUT since then he has improved season after season and, before the injury, was a major player in this Spurs team…certainly a “presser” who who was influential at both ends of the field. Against Liverpool, for example, he would have given Davies far more protection than Heung Min Son did and thus, quite possibly, have reduced Mane’s effectiveness.Ultimately, all I’m saying is that the lad was clearly becoming a major player in a very good Spurs team… don’t let’s us write him off yet.