Spurs are in shock as reports suggest that winger Erik Lamela wants to leave the club in the summer, in favour of a move back to his former club Roma.
The Argentine hasn’t played for Spurs since the 2-1 EFL Cup defeat at Anfield back in October, and has been sidelined ever since due to a hip injury. At the time, Mauricio Pochettino at the time explained that the injury was nothing serious, and that the recovery process would take a few weeks.
However, here we are coming to the end of January, and Lamela is still out of action. We heard a couple of weeks ago that the winger would return to his former club Roma, to see a doctor that he trusted from his time at the club to see what he could do to speed up the recovery.
Mauricio Pochettino was able to give an update on the injury to Lamela after the 2-2 draw at Manchester City on Saturday evening. Here is what he had to say.
The result was the same so now it’s about how he adapts his programme. Now he’ll start to run. It’s positive, now it’s about building his fitness and to try to challenge the pain he feels in his hip, but I think this will be positive.
Despite Pochettino seeming very focused on getting the winger back to full fitness and back amongst the first team, it has been reported by Squawka that the 24-year-old is interested in moving back to Roma in the summer.
This long spell on the sidelines with injury has left Lamela feeling isolated from the rest of the squad, as well as frustrated as the initial signs suggested that the injury was only minor. We also have heard reports that the death of his dog Simba, who Lamela seemed to be very close to, has also had an effect on the Argentine’s state of mind.
Will Lamela make a move away over the summer?
After a disappointing couple of seasons at White Hart Lane, the instalment of Mauricio Pochettino as manager at Spurs has helped to get the very best out of Erik Lamela. After his purple patch since the Argentine arrived as manager, it would seem that a decision to leave a club with a coach that you know can get the very best out of you as a player would not be taken lightly. It is of course understandable that a player would get extremely frustrated when trying to recover from an injury that seemed minor in the first place.
Do I have any doubts about Lamela feeling unsettled at the moment? No. But would I be surprised if he moved back to Roma over the summer? Yes, I would be very surprised.
