Erik Lamela has signed a new long-term deal with Tottenham Hotspur until 2022.
Erik Lamela has agreed to a new contract with Tottenham Hotspur, keeping him at the club until 2022, the club confirmed on Friday afternoon.
The deal would show a lot of faith in the Argentine, who has yet to meet the heights that some expected of him when he joined for £25.8m in 2013.
His 10 league goals since joining the club underpin this – especially considering his 15 Serie A goals in his final season with AS Roma – although injuries have seriously hurt his progress.
Lamela missed almost the entire 16/17 season because of a hip injury but rebounded to have a squad role last year. The club did, however, move to sign Lucas Moura from Paris Saint-Germain in January to compete with Lamela and this new contract shows faith in both of them.
If Lamela were to leave, an opening for a new winger would appear, and one that would almost certainly be filled by a high-calibre player, such as Wilfried Zaha or Anthony Martial.
But tying Lamela down further surely suggests that a big signing isn’t likely; Spurs already have, along with Son Heung-Min, three first-team wingers and a fourth would drastically limit their game time.
And if the plan is to stick with what they’ve got, then that’s a sign that the club has faith in Moura and Lamela kicking on from last season and improving the squad without the need for new signings.
It may not be the ideal summer plan for Spurs fans, but the new contract does seem to suggest where Mauricio Pochettino’s faith lies.
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