Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Erik Lamela could leave the North London club temporarily to move to River Plate in the summer, as per reports.
Argentina’s Radio La Red have reported that Tottenham Hotspur midfielder has asked to leave the North London club on a temporary basis to join boyhood club River Plate on loan in the summer due to some unspecified family reasons.
Erik Lamela has not quite fulfilled the potential that saw Barcelona offer him and his family a whopping £100,000 a week when he was just seven years old to move to the club.
Por un tema familiar Lamela necesita venir al pais y esta la chance de jugar el semestre con la Banda. En River quieren q sea el año entero.
— Nicolas Distasio (@DistasioNicolas) February 1, 2017
While he did make a mark at the youth level for River Plate, astonishingly scoring 120 goals in one of the seasons to spark interest in him from several European clubs, he has failed to do justice to the abundance of talent that he possesses in his senior career.
A two-year senior stint with River Plate saw Lamela notch up underwhelming numbers of four goals and six assists in 36 appearances for the Argentine club. He then moved to Europe, with Serie A club AS Roma snapping him up for €12 million in 2011.
While in Rome, Lamela’s number did improve significantly and he impressed in two seasons with the Italian heavyweights, bagging 21 goals and 13 assists in 67 matches for the Gallorossi in all competitions.
Having made a mark in his two-year stint in Italy, Lamela was signed by Tottenham Hotspur £25.8 million, plus up to £4.2 million in bonus to become the most expensive players in the club’s history in 2013 as Andre Vilas-Boas looked to replace Gareth Bale.
However, the initial years in the Premier League weren’t quite as successful as those in Serie A, as Lamela struggled to adapt to life in English football, while the likes of Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Heung-min Son made a more pronounced impact at White Hart Lane.
His struggles at White Hart Lane saw Lamela being rumoured to be on the move away from Tottenham in the summer, with Inter Milan heavily linked to bring the Argentinian back to Italy.
However, he put all the struggles behind him at the start of the season and it was starting to look like Lamela had finally turned a page in his Tottenham career as he started the campaign in blistering fashion. The midfielder twice while notching up seven assists in 14 appearances in all competitions before a cruel hip injury pegged the 24-year-old back.
Lamela hasn’t played for Tottenham since October, and as he continues to recuperate from the injury, news regarding an unspecified family situation has started filtering in. He first lost his brother to an accident before the demise of his family dog reportedly left him with an emotional crisis.
Erik Lamela has now asked Tottenham to send him on loan to Argentina in the off-season to participate in the Copa Libertadores with River Plate. The club have opened talks with Tottenham over a deal as well, and it now remains to be seen if Mauricio Pochettino will sanction a deal to let Lamela leave on a temporary basis.