Tottenham Hotspur Manager Mauricio Pocchettino addressed the transfer rumors pertaining to Erik Lamela, and at the same time also provided an update on his health.
Spurs, who currently sit third in the Premier League table, have been without the services of Lamela since October due to a hip injury.
The former Roma player has traveled back to the eternal city to convalesce, and hopefully revitalize both his body and mind. Lamela has been in Rome for the past two weeks.
“The last scan in Rome showed no issues, there is still pain in his hip joint but now it’s important to meet us, stay here with the group and (for us to) try to push him to build his fitness to help him to achieve the level of the team and be available as soon as possible to try to help the team,” the Argentinian boss said of his player and countryman.
“Tomorrow we expect that he will be here and in the moment that he arrives (we need) to assess him and try to see how he is.”
In response to a question about Lamela’s current state of mind, Pochettino addressed the long term future of the player at the club:
“It’s a lot of rumors. He asked to go to Rome to try to change the place and maybe inspire him to recover quicker but you cannot control all the rumors. You never know where the rumors come from but he is very happy, we keep in touch every day.”
He then elaborated on all the exterior noise surrounding the status of Erik Lamela:
“Maybe he was a little bit worried about some comments, for that (reason) he expressed his feelings at that moment via social media but he is very happy here, he is very focused and he has suffered a lot because he is a person that likes to play football and enjoys when he is on the pitch with the ball.”
“All the rumors don’t help him in the end but we try to advise him to only be focused, try to recover as soon as possible and forget what’s happening around (him).”
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