Tottenham winger Erik Lamela compares favourably to Chelsea’s Willian, a player who was almost his teammate.
Willian was almost lining up alongside Erik Lamela for Tottenham, getting as close as having a medical for the club in 2013, as reported the BBC, before Chelsea hijacked the deal.
The Brazilian international has gone onto become a Premier League winner this season, but has not been one of the standout players for the Blues.
Tottenham spent big on Erik Lamela regardless the same summer, only to see the Argentine struggle to adjust to the division.
This season has see a gradual improvement, even if he is yet to wholly convince or show consistency, with The Metro describing him last week as a ‘Spurs flop’.
William has played three more games for Chelsea this season than Lamela has done for Spurs, yet the White Hart Lane winger is the one who has been more productive to his side..
While both players have netted only two league goals each, Lamela provided seven assists to Willian’s three, and creates an average of 1.82 chances per game to the Chelsea attacker’s 1.36, able also to boast a superior crossing accuracy by three per cent.
The Guardian reported that when Chelsea pipped Tottenham to signing Willian, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy was ‘incandescent’ with rage, and intensified their efforts to go and sign Lamela.
The Argentine may not yet have hit top form for Spurs, but the signs based on this season suggest that they may have landed up with the better player, and one still with plenty of potential to improve.
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