Erik Lamela doesn’t deserve a Tottenham exit yet
By Zac Wassink
Erik Lamela may desire to leave Tottenham Hotspur during the summer months, but Spurs shouldn’t give up on him quite yet.
When does a club or sports franchise give up on a promising young prospect? What, exactly, is the breaking point in such matters? Each case is different, of course, as a wide variety of factors affect such a serious decision.
Once a team moves from a supposed future star who failed to reach expectations, the perception exists the club ultimately wasted time and money that could and should have been spent more wisely.
Tottenham face this type of dilemma at the moment regarding Erik Lamela. Lamela was one of the so-called “magnificent seven” brought in to replace Gareth Bale in the summer of 2013, but only he and outstanding midfielder Christian Eriksen remain with the club today. Unlike Eriksen, arguably Tottenham’s best player for the 2016-17, Lamela still hasn’t made a long-term home for himself at the North London outfit.
It’s likely the matter would be easier for Spurs if manager Mauricio Pochettino could simply define Lamela as a letdown, a flop that reportedly cost around £30 million, and move on. Every club makes mistakes, after all.
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Things are more complicated as it pertains to Lamela’s status and future with the club, in part because Pochettino and members of the Tottenham faithful have seen glimpses of what Lamela could become as he enters his physical prime.
Yes, the early days of Lamela’s stint at White Hart Lane were either lackluster or downright disastrous, but they faded from memories by the time the spring of 2016 rolled around. As Sam Rooke of Bleacher Report wrote roughly one year ago, Lamela became a revelation in Pochettino’s system, a player capable of contributing at both ends of the pitch. His future unquestionably looked bright heading into the 2016-17 campaign.
Things started out alright this past August. Lamela headed home a crucial goal in a 1-1 draw away against Everton, and the hope, at the time, was that he was on the verge of picking up where he left off the previous season en route to establishing himself as a mainstay in a lineup capable of contending for, and possibly even winning, the league.
That never happened. Lamela suffered a hip injury late in the fall, a problem that kept him sidelined for the rest of 2016 and, ultimately, the remainder of the season. That, alone, would be worrisome, particularly for a player such as Lamela who has a noteworthy injury history. The rumors that accompanied his absence, specifically, as Ronan Murphy of Goal.com wrote, that Lamela was struggling to cope with the death of his dog in January, made his disappearing act a bizarre facet to what was, otherwise, a successful season for Spurs.
Logic suggests Pochettino would be just fine showing Lamela the door as soon as July 1. Throughout his tenure with the club, Pochettino has had little patience for those unable and/or unwilling to adapt to life under his rule, and there is, on the surface, no reason to believe things would go differently with Lamela.
Two different aspects of the equation may, however, result in Lamela playing under Pochettino one last time. Lamela is perfect for his manager’s style, an evolving box-to-box player with a tenacity an aggression respected by Pochettino. It’s a not coincidence or merely the result of maturation Lamela thrived a season ago.
Remember, also, that the final decision to abandon the Lamela experiment will be made by chairman Daniel Levy. Levy, widely respected for his negotiation skills, likely realizes he wouldn’t recover the money he paid for Lamela’s services in 2017, and, thus, he’d prefer Lamela prove his worth on the pitch over the course of another season.
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The Tottenham starting XI that ran wild throughout the second half of this past campaign has the goods to win the Premier League, but the club’s overall squad needs an influx of depth and talent. Lamela can serve as that depth so long as is healthy and able to play in August. He can earn an exit from Spurs, if that is his wish, in time, but only by raising his own price-tag with multiple memorable performances.
Until that happens, Tottenham should retain Lamela’s services for another season.