Erik Lamela

Erik Manuel Lamela Cordero (born 4 March 1992) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for La Liga club Sevilla and the Argentina national team.

Lamela began his career at River Plate and in 2011 transferred to Roma for an initial €12 million. After two Serie A seasons he joined Tottenham for a fee of £25.8 million. A full international since 2011, he was part of the Argentine squad which finished as runners-up at the 2015 and 2016 editions of the Copa América.

Early life

Lamela was born on 4 March 1992 to Miriam and José Lamela in a northern suburb of Buenos Aires, Argentina. His family gave him the nickname "Coco". After he had joined River Plate as a seven-year-old, Barcelona reportedly offered Lamela and his family $160,000 USD a year as well as a house and employment for his parents to move to Barcelona in a similar deal to the one that saw Lionel Messi move to Spain as a youngster. In 2004, a ''Trans World Sport'' film crew travelled to Argentina to interview a 12-year-old Lamela who was already making headlines after scoring 120 goals for River Plate's youth side the previous season. In the video, Lamela declares his wish to follow in the footsteps of Diego Maradona and win a World Cup for Argentina.

Club career

River Plate

Lamela made his first-team debut for River Plate on 14 June 2009 in a game against Tigre for the 2009 Clausura tournament. He entered the field on the 80th minute, substituting Robert Flores. Lamela scored his first goal for River on 5 December 2010 in a match against Colón for the Apertura tournament. He scored his second goal against Lanús in the final fixture of that Apertura, helping River win the match 4–2.

The midfielder was a regular starter for River during the 2010–11 Argentine Primera División season, playing 34 games and scoring four goals. He helped his team to finish in an overall sixth place that would have qualified them for the 2011 Copa Sudamericana. Due to the relegation format of the Argentine Primera that accounts for a team's last three seasons, however, River was relegated after losing a playoff with Belgrano.

Roma

2011–12 season

On 6 August 2011, Lamela joined Italian club Roma of Serie A for a fee of €12 million, plus €2 million in bonuses, which was activated after his 20th club appearance. Roma also paid an additional €3.2 million to Orel B.V. — plus 10% added value if the player was later sold above €12 million — and €3.06 million in the form of taxes to the Government of Argentina. Lamela signed a 5-year contract worth €1.8 million in gross in the first season, but would gradually increase by €350,000 on 1 July 2012 (to €2.15M), 2014 (€2.5M) and 2015 (€2.85M). On 23 October 2011, he scored his first goal in Serie A against Palermo. Later, he scored goals against Lecce, Novara, and Cesena. Lamela ended his first season at the Stadio Olimpico with six goals in 31 games in all competitions.

2012–13 season

Lamela began the 2012–13 season well, his first goal of the season coming against Bologna on 16 September 2012. Lamela hit a superb patch of form in October and early November, scoring seven goals in six games, including a brace against Udinese in a 3–2 home defeat and goals against Atalanta, Genoa, Parma, and Palermo. He also scored a goal in the Derby della Capitale against Lazio. After almost a month out with an ankle ligament injury, he returned to the field and scored a brace against Milan in a 4–2 victory on 22 December.

Lamela went on to score 15 times in 33 games, putting him joint-fifth in Serie A and second to striker Pablo Osvaldo (16 goals) at Roma. Lamela's and Roma's season, however, ended in heartache with defeat to Rome rivals Lazio in the Coppa Italia final, coupled with finishing sixth in Serie A, meaning that Roma would not play European football for the second consecutive season.

Tottenham Hotspur

On 30 August 2013, Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur completed the transfer of Lamela from Roma for a deal worth an initial £25.8 million, plus up to £4.2 million in bonus payments. The fee for Lamela made him the most expensive player in the club's history, breaking the two previous records that had been set earlier in the transfer window, first for Paulinho and then Roberto Soldado.

2013–14 season

On 1 September, Lamela made his debut for Tottenham as a 75th-minute substitute in a 1–0 North London derby loss to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. On 19 September, he made his first start for Tottenham against Tromsø IL in the UEFA Europa League, assisting Jermain Defoe for Tottenham's opening goal in a 3–0 win at White Hart Lane. On 22 September, he assisted Paulinho's stoppage-time winning goal after appearing as a substitute in Tottenham's 1–0 win at Cardiff City.

On 29 October, with Lamela having yet to start a Premier League match, Tottenham manager André Villas-Boas said of the player, "He knows he isn't producing half of what he can produce, but he understands the situation now is that he has to compete for his place." On 7 November, Lamela scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 Europa League win against Sheriff Tiraspol. Seventeen days later, he made his first start in the Premier League as Tottenham were beaten 6–0 by Manchester City. His season was ended by a back injury in April 2014.

2014–15 season

The 2014–15 season saw Lamela establish himself as a regular starter under Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham's new Argentine manager.

He was named in the starting line-up for the opening match of the 2014–15 Premier League season against West Ham United, making his first appearance of 2014. He repaid his new manager's faith in the following two games; assisting twice after coming off of the bench in a 2–1 win against AEL Limassol on 21 August, and assisting twice more in a 4–0 win against Queens Park Rangers three days later at White Hart Lane.

Lamela scored his first goals of the season on 23 October, a brace in a 5–1 victory over Greek club Asteras Tripoli in the Europa League. His first goal was a rabona-style strike from outside the area, the goal being praised by the BBC
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