Erik Lamela arrived at Tottenham Hotspur from AS Roma in 2013 and after spending eight years at the north London club, they sold him to Sevilla as part of the deal for Bryan Gil last summer.
The Argentina international arrived for the first time in Europe when the Giallorossi signed him from River Plate in 2011.
In his two seasons with the Serie A side, the attacking midfielder managed 21 goals and 13 assists, out of which 15 goals and six assists came in his last campaign with them.
Lamela’s displays for Italian club had attracted interest from other Serie A sides, most notably Napoli. However, the deal never took shape and the Italian club ended up selling the South American to Spurs.
Walter Sabatini was Roma’s sporting director between 2011 and 2016, and it was during his time at the Italian capital club that they sold the attacking midfielder to Spurs. He now details what forced his former club to sell the player.
“We would never have thought of selling Erik, but factors intervened that made us change our mind. His sale brought us pain, but by the time we made the decision, the player had an unparalleled offer,” Sabatini said, as quoted by Area Napoli.
“When Lamela was attacked by an Italian club [Napoli], which made him an offer of 3.5 million plus a commission to his father of 2 million, we had lost the player. I spoke to the agent, telling him that I would raise our offer, but he wasn’t very convinced. I saw him turned off, I thought I could not fully recover him, so I set up the idea of selling him. This is football, uncontrollable.”
Instead of Napoli, Sabatini sold his star to Tottenham, so perhaps that was some revenge for the situation which had been created by such an offer.
