Érik Lamela’s future at Tottenham Hotspur is in doubt amid tension between the player and the club over the best way to treat his troublesome hip injury.
The Argentina forward, who has not played for Tottenham since the EFL Cup defeat by Liverpool in October, has told friends that he will not feature again this season, but Spurs insisted last night that such a prognosis was premature. Lamela has spent much of the intervening period in Buenos Aires and Rome rather than at the club’s training ground.
The Times has learnt that there has been a disagreement between Lamela and the club over whether he requires surgery, leaving the 25-year-old in limbo as he prepares to enter the final 12 months of his contract.
Tottenham have been very supportive of Lamela, allowing him to return to Argentina to spend time with his family after his brother was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident before Christmas, as well as giving him permission to be treated in Italy by Damiano Stefanini, the physiotherapist at his previous club, Roma. There is frustration at Spurs, though, over his lack of progress.
Mauricio Pochettino, the Spurs manager, said in January that he expected Lamela to be available soon, but two months later he is yet to return to full training. Lamela is back at Spurs after scans and treatment in Rome, but is still training on his own.
Tottenham have just 10 Premier League matches left this season as they seek to cement their place in the top, as well as an FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea, so there will be few opportunities to reintegrate him back into Pochettino’s first-team squad.
Lamela had expressed a desire to sign an extension to his £65,000-a-week contract before getting injured, but he has yet to be offered a new deal. Talks are scheduled to take place in the summer but Lamela is unlikely to secure the £120,000 weekly wages that he was hoping for. The club’s reluctance to start talks with Lamela indicates that they may listen to offers for a player they paid £25 million for in 2013.
(The Times)
