After spending a year out due to a serious hip injury, this season was always going to be slow one for Erik Lamela as the Argentine was trying to regain his full fitness and get match sharp once again.

The Tottenham Hotspur maestro ended the Premier League campaign with a brilliant double as his side managed to beat Leicester City 5-4 at Wembley. That will have given his confidence a massive boost after such a frustrating time for the player.

Lamela’s performance against the Foxes yesterday, might have him seething that this campaign is over  but the real target for the forward should be shining at the redeveloped White Hart Lane next season!

The Argentine international arrived to much fanfare in 2013 for a fee of £25.8m and the former AS Roma man was seen as the natural successor to Gareth Bale who had just left to join Real Madrid.

Erik struggled with the rigours of the English game and only managed nine league appearances in his debut season.

When Poch arrived in 2014, Lamela’s appearances became more frequent.

Then in the 2015-16 things started to click and the attacker started to produce more consistent high end performances, he ended that term with eleven goals and nine assists.

Yet before peaking, Lamela succumbed to his devastating hip injury.

Now after rehabbing and getting more minutes on the pitch towards the end of this campaign, the forward should be aiming to show that he can once again become a match winner next season.

Yes he’ll have competition, Spurs have plenty of great creative talent within their ranks but at twenty-six years of age Erik Lamela should be coming into his best years. He can play on either wing as well as through the middle, that flexibility could give him an edge over others in the squad.

His manager seemed delighted with his exploits on Sunday:

“It was important for him, a massive motivation,”  

“His performance today was fantastic, scoring goals.”

“I think it’s a massive boost for him. Yes, I think fantastic.”

“If you work hard every day in a tough season but finish in that way, always it’s a massive thing for him.”

Now the exciting attacker needs to enjoy his summer holiday, get a full pre-season under his belt and come back fully fit, confident and raring to go as Spurs try and challenge for more glory next year!

Posted on May 14th, 2018 by scott
Filed under: Article