Inter Milan willing to pay significant money for Erik Lamela?

Tottenham Hotspur's most expensive player in club history, Erik Lamela, may be on his way out the door. While the Argentine showed some promise at the end of last season, the first couple of weeks have not been great for the 23-year-old and, if this is to be believed, the club may have run out of patience.

Gianluca di Marzio is reporting that Inter Milan have not only made an inquiry, but have actually come to an agreement in principle with Tottenham for Lamela.

Perisic, ma non solo. Vi abbiamo raccontato in queste ore le alternative di mercato dell'Inter, a caccia di un attaccante per rinforzare la rosa di Mancini. Borini e Lavezzi possibili alternative al croato del Wolfsburg. Ma c'è di più: sul taccuino della dirigenza nerazzurra anche Lamela.

Trattativa difficile, ma l'ex Roma è una delle idee interiste. Oggi, a sorpresa, presi contatti col club inglese. Ci sarebbe anche già un accordo di massima con gli Spurs, a cifre molto simili a quelle di Perisic: 6 mln per il prestito, 14 per il riscatto. Domani ulteriori contatti col procuratore, per cercare di stringere in attesa della risposta del Wolfsburg per Perisic.

The summary of the short article is this: Inter need depth in their attack, primarily on the wing and at striker. Inter have inquired about Fabio Borini as well as Ezequiel Lavezzi. While there isn't talk of fees or deals with those two, Di Marzio is going all out on the Lamela rumor, which would reportedly be for a 6m loan fee and a 14m option to buy at the end of the loan. There is no confirmation in the article if the fee is in Euros or Pounds, so speculate away at that. Di Marzio has used both in his articles before, so it's up in the air as to which one it is.

The reason we're not saying this is bat country is for two reasons: Lamela's play and the fees associated. When the ridiculous rumor of Porto taking Lamela on came out, it was for an asinine fee of just €6m altogether. This, however, would perhaps be enough for Levy to cut his losses and move as the loss would be a minimal one. Whether or not this is true remains to be seen, but with a week to go in Silly Season, nothing will surprise anyone at this point as Spurs have had no qualms about cutting the roster down.

With rumors of Spurs still in for Saido Berahino from West Brom and even Yanick Bolasie from Crystal Palace, this is at least plausible. Will it stick? Time will tell.