Erik Lamela deserves new Tottenham contract

Some Tottenham fans are upset with the news that Erik Lamela is being offered a new contract. The truth is he deserves one.

There might not be a more divisive Spurs player among Tottenham fans than Argentine attacker Erik Lamela. He arrived at the club with big expectations and a big price tag and he hasn’t become the superstar that fans wanted in the aftermath of Gareth Bale. Those expectations have convinced some fans he isn’t worth a rumored new contract with the North London club. Those fans are dead wrong.

Earlier this week, the Daily Mail carried the story that Spurs and Lamela were in negotiations to extend his contract. The club would like to agree to terms now to head off any questions about the attacker’s future before rumors begin to gain any steam.

Some Spurs fans would have preferred this news been a few days later in order to qualify as an April Fools Day joke. While I understand some fans’ frustrations with Lamela’s lack of end-product, it doesn’t mean he isn’t a key member of the squad. His initial high price-tag has blinded many fans to what Lamela does well on the pitch.

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At this point, Lamela’s reported 30 million pound price tag is a sunk cost. If that’s what Tottenham paid Roma for his services then so be it. It’s even fair to say that his play hasn’t justified that price tag since his arrival.

How he’s played thus far relative to his purchase price doesn’t matter one bit when evaluating whether or not he deserves a new contract. To consider whether or not he deserves a new deal, you must only think about how he is going to play in future years.

Now in fairness, studying a player’s past performance can certainly provide some solid clues as to how a player might perform in the future, but that’s the only value it provides. You can’t go back and change the way Lamela has played over the past two seasons, you can only concern yourselves with how you think he’ll play moving forward.

The facts are that Lamela has been significantly better for Tottenham this season. He hasn’t been perfect, nor is he a finished product, but he is a promising youngster who at 24 years of age is starting to play better football under Mauricio Pochettino.

His return of three goals and five assists in 28 Premier League appearances certainly leaves a lot to be desired. His finishing must improve if he is to fulfill his full potential. However, in the absence of quality in the final third he’s fashioned himself into a pretty good complete football player.

Even without solid scoring contributions, he’s still managed to earn a Whoscored.com player average over 7 for the season. That’s indicative of his work rate on behalf of Spurs’ high pressing system. Cynics will say that you shouldn’t pay an attacker based on his defensive contributions, but in Poch’s system it’s imperative that his forwards contribute mightily to the press. Lamela might be the poster child for how Poch wants his attackers to attack the opposition when they are in possession.

What you must consider is what sort of player Lamela might become next season, or even the following year. If he can continue his high work rate and pressing, but manages to improve his finishing to a reasonable level, then what sort of player would Lamela be then? The answer is that he’d be one of the most effective attacking midfielders in the Premier League.

Even if he doesn’t take that leap forward, he’s still essential to Tottenham’s current project. Without him, Pochettino would be forced to rely heavily on the likes of Nacer Chadli and Son Heung-Min to supplement Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli in attack. Lamela is a far superior option to anything else Spurs have on their current roster.

Extending Lamela’s contract does not mean that Tottenham still won’t be highly aggressive in the transfer market this summer to add to the club’s attack. Lamela’s positional flexibility also adds to his value. Pochettino can add attacking talent at any of his forward positions without it infringing greatly on Lamela’s playing time.

Tottenham fans should be happy at the news that the club is looking to lock up Erik Lamela before other clubs begin to swoop for the talented attacker. His initial price tag shouldn’t factor into anyone’s thinking at this point, and he is a player whose career is certainly on an upward trajectory. This is just another example of Tottenham wisely moving to secure their young talent before the price is driven up by foreign interest.

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