Emile Heskey isn’t surprised to hear Erik Lamela could leave Tottenham Hotspur following the departure of Jose Mourinho, speaking exclusively to HITC.
In February, Mourinho said what every single Spurs fan was thinking about their £30 million Argentina international.
“I just want to confirm, a good Lamela I love. You are right. He is the kind of player I like very much,” Mourinho told the Standard.
When playing at the top of his game, Lamela is a joy to behold – a whirling dervish of a footballer capable of producing moments of staggering individual quality. The only problem is, a “good Lamela” only tends to show his face once in a blue moon.
March’s north London derby between Tottenham and Arsenal summed up Lamela’s entire Premier League career inside 43 dramatic minutes.
The former Roma winger opened the scoring with a glorious rabona before being sent off in disgrace with his side 2-1 down.
And the sudden departure of Mourinho two weeks ago appeared to hammer another nail into Lamela’s Tottenham career.
Football London is reporting offers for the 29-year-old will be considered in the summer transfer window, with interim boss Ryan Mason clearly not sharing Mourinho’s admiration for Spurs’ very own Mr Inconsistent.
“I think Lamela is a fantastic player but, for me, he hasn’t hit the heights expected of him. If you see some of the goals he’s scored you think ‘wow!’ – but they are few and far between,” says former England international Heskey.
“At a club of Spurs’ stature, you need players doing this 24/7, not every three months.”
Lamela tumbled down the pecking order almost immediately following Mourinho’s departure.
He played only 23 minutes in the Premier League victories over Sheffield United and Southampton. And the fact Mason didn’t bring Lamela off the bench when Spurs were desperate for a goal in the Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City spoke volumes.
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