Tottenham Hotspur are seemingly interested in West Ham United’s Manuel Lanzini – and you can see why.
Erik Lamela’s 12-month injury hell came to an end this week in Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-1 defeat at Leicester City. Less than two minutes after coming on, Lamela set up Harry Kane for what turned out to be a mere consolation at the King Power Stadium.
Such a lengthy absence is bound to make Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino question whether he can depend on the 25-year-old in the long term and rumours linking Tottenham with West Ham United’s Manuel Lanzini today might suggest that the Argentine boss is looking to the future.
Pochettino is also a huge fan of Lamela’s off-the-ball contribution and his ability to adapt to the manager’s high-energy pressing tactic has seen him develop into something of a fan favourite over recent seasons.
But it looks like the West Ham man also has a steel to match his silk and you could see why the Lilywhites boss is said to be a big fan of Lanzini.
During the 2015-16 campaign (Lamela’s last full season), the Hammers star recovered possession for United on 161 occasions – only three less than Lamela’s haul of 164. With 27, the former Roma star also only managed three more interceptions than Lanzini, who won 17 more 50-50 balls than the Spurs man.
Lamela did thrash him the tackling stakes, making 81 of them during the whole of that campaign and beating Lanzini’s 33, but the West Ham ace is clearly a bigger goal threat, having scored 15 in 70 Premier League games, compared to Lamela’s eight in 86.
There really isn’t a whole lot between them and if Tottenham are genuinely interested then it might suggest he would come as Lamela’s replacement.
Goals are what has held him back during his four-year stay in North London and Lanzini might just represent the balanced player that Lamela isn’t and might never become.
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