Last seen in a Tottenham shirt on the 25th of October in a 2-1 loss to Liverpool in the EFL Cup, Erik Lamela’s ‘hip injury’ is dragging on far longer than first expected.
A key member of Mauricio Pochettino’s 2015-16 squad, the Argentinean winger seems to have completely disappeared, and newspapers in Italy seem to think a transfer in the summer away from White Hart Lane is a real possibility.
Corriere dello Sport go big on Monday, saying that Inter Milan are very keen on the 25-year-old, and would be prepared to bring him back to Serie A, the league he made a name for himself in at Roma.
This past experience could certainly serve him well were he to return to Italy, and it appears the player would be perfect for what Stefano Pioli has planned for next season, which is to have an inside forward on the right.
Also looking at the possibility of bringing in Federico Bernardeschi from Fiorentina or Domenico Berardi from Sassuolo, the opportunity to sign Lamela could be far more tempting.
Furthermore, Corriere dello Sport claim the Tottenham winger apparently considers his Premier League experienced as ‘closed’, and is looking for a new stimulus, with a return to Italy highly attractive.
Despite the Premier League club believing the player could return before the end of the season, Lamela is said to have told close friends that won’t be the case, with his campaign already over in his head.
With Inter Milan having two non-EU slots readily available, signing the Argentina international wouldn’t be a problem, and it would just be a question of price.
Considering Inter are said to be readying big moves for the summer with their Chinese backing, a bid landing on Spurs’ table certainly wouldn’t be a surprise.
However, Corriere’s belief that a deal of less than €10m could be achieved for Lamela, even if his contract runs out in 2018, is frankly laughable, with Tottenham unlikely to want to see a player they paid €30m for in the first place go for such a loss.
Then again, the Italian newspaper does have a tendency to undervalue players, recently claiming Monaco’s Kylian Mbappé and Thomas Lemar would be available for a combined price of €25m.
Corriere dello Sport seem to think Mbappé is worth €15m and Lemar €10m. Times that by three, then maybe. And even then…: pic.twitter.com/JfjsRg49Lx
— Tom Coast (@thcoast) February 23, 2017
