Érik Lamela

Érik Lamela
Lamela playing for Tottenham Hotspur in 2016
Personal information
Full name Érik Manuel Lamela[1]
Date of birth (1992-03-04) 4 March 1992[1]
Place of birth Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)[2]
Playing position Winger, attacking midfielder[2]
Club information
Current team
 Tottenham Hotspur
Number 11
Youth career
River Plate
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2011 River Plate 36 (4)
2011–2013 Roma 62 (19)
2013– Tottenham Hotspur 113 (12)
National team‡
2011–2012 Argentina U20 4 (3)
2011– Argentina 23 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 01:23, 23 September 2018 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 09:40, 6 September 2016 (UTC)

Érik Manuel Lamela (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈeɾik laˈmela]; born 4 March 1992) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a winger for English club Tottenham Hotspur and the Argentina national team.

He 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 Copa América.

Early life

After he had joined River Plate as a seven-year old, Barcelona reportedly offered Lamela and his family £100,000 a year, as well as a house and employment for his parents, to move to the city of Barcelona, in a similar deal to the one that saw Lionel Messi move to Spain as a youngster.[3] 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.[4]

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.[5] 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 a team's last three seasons, however, River was relegated after losing a playoff with Belgrano.

Roma

2011–12 season

Lamela (r.) playing for Roma against Chelsea in August 2013

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.[6] Roma also paid an additional €3.2 million to Orel B.V.[7] — 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).[6] On 23 October 2011, he scored his first goal in Serie A against Palermo.[8] Later, he scored goals against Lecce,[9] Novara,[10] and Cesena.[11] 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.[12]

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.[13] 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.[14]

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.[15][16] 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.[17]

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.[18] 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.[19] 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.[20]

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."[21] On 7 November, Lamela scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 Europa League win against Sheriff Tiraspol.[22] Seventeen days later, he made his first start in the Premier League as Tottenham were beaten 6–0 by Manchester City.[23] His season was ended by a back injury in April 2014.[24]

2014–15 season

Under Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham's new Argentine manager, Lamela 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.[25] On 21 August, he appeared from the bench in Spurs' UEFA Europa League match at AEL and assisted goals for Roberto Soldado and Harry Kane to secure a 2–1 win against the Cypriot club.[26] He then recorded two more assists in a 4–0 win over Queens Park Rangers three days later at White Hart Lane.[27]

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.[28] His first goal was a rabona-style strike from outside the area, the goal being praised by the BBC as brilliant and by ITV as "world-class."[28][29] He scored his first Premier League goal on 20 December in a 2–1 win against Burnley at White Hart Lane.[30]

2015–16 season

Lamela's first goal of the 2015–16 season came in a 3–1 UEFA Europa League win over Qarabağ FK on 17 September 2015. On 26 September, he scored his first Premier League goal of the season in a 4–1 home victory over Manchester City.[31] Lamela scored his first career hat-trick as Tottenham thrashed Monaco 4–1 in the Europa League on 10 December.[32]

2016–17 season

Lamela scored with a second half header on the opening day of the 2016–17 season in a 1–1 draw against Everton at Goodison Park.[33] However, a hip injury in late October left him unfit for matches for a long period and ended his season.[34][35]

2017–18 season

After more than a year out due to the hip injury that required two operations,[36] Lamela appeared in the Premier League away game against Leicester on 28 November 2017 as a substitute. He assisted in the only goal for Spurs, but the game ended in a 2–1 loss.[37] He followed that up with his first league start of the season in a 2–0 home win against Brighton on 13 December 2017.[38] He scored his first goal of the season in the 2–0 win against Newport County in the fourth round replay of the FA Cup on 7 February 2018.[39]

2018–19 season

On 20 July 2018, Lamela signed a new four-year extension to his contract with Tottenham until 2022.[40]

Lamela scored his first goal of the 2018–19 season after coming on as a substitute in the game against Liverpool that Spurs lost 2–1.[41] He also scored in the next league game against Brighton in a 2–1 win,[42] followed by another goal in the next game in the EFL Cup against Watford.[43] On 3 October, Lamela scored Tottenham's second goal in a 4–2 defeat at home to Barcelona in the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League group stage; it was the 8,000th goal in the history of the Champions League.[44]

International career

Erik Lamela (4th from right) lining up with Argentina against Uruguay.

Lamela took part in the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup with the Argentina national under-20 team and scored three goals in four matches.[45]

Lamela made his debut with the Argentina national team on 25 May 2011 in a friendly game against Paraguay.[46]

On 3 September 2014, Lamela scored his first goal for the senior national team, putting Argentina 2–0 ahead against Germany, in an eventual 4–2 win in a rematch of the World Cup final.[47]

In May 2015, Lamela was selected by coach Gerardo Martino in Argentina's squad for the 2015 Copa América held in Chile.[48]

In 2016, Lamela was selected by coach Gerardo Martino in Argentina's squad for the 2016 Copa América. Lamela was part of the Argentine side that ran to the final. He appeared in all of Argentina's group stage matches, and scored a goal in the 3–0 win against Bolivia with a long range free kick.[49] He scored again in the 4–1 win in the quarter final against Venezuela minutes after coming on as a sub.[50] In the final against Chile, he only appeared as a sub in extra-time in the 111th minute, which Chile won 4–2 on penalties.[51]

International goals

Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.3 September 2014Esprit Arena, Düsseldorf, Germany Germany
2–0
4–2
Friendly
2.14 June 2016CenturyLink Field, Seattle, United States Bolivia
1–0
3–0
Copa America Centenario
3.18 June 2016Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, United States Venezuela
4–1
4–1

Personal life

Lamela's girlfriend of many years is Sofia Herrero.[52] Their son Tobias was born on 25 November 2017.[53][54]

Career statistics

Club

As of 3 October 2018[55]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
River Plate 2008–09 Argentine Primera División 10——10
2009–10 10——10
2010–11 344——344
Total 3640000364
Roma 2011–12 Serie A 29422—316
2012–13 331530—3615
Total 621952006721
Tottenham Hotspur 2013–14[56] Premier League 902061171
2014–15[57] 3325182465
2015–16[58] 34520864411
2016–17[59] 912110122
2017–18[60] 2526220324
2018–19[61] 32112164
Total 1131218526915727
Career total 2103323726925950

International

As of 6 September 2016[62]
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