Pochettino confirms Tottenham will not sell Erik Lamela

When the news broke this week that Erik Lamela was having surgery to repair the injury to his hip, causing him to miss the remainder of the Premier League season, the implication was clear: Tottenham Hotspur aren’t selling him this summer. The Argentine midfielder was linked with all kinds of crazy moves and has been pretty much since he joined the club four years ago.

Strangely, the news of Lamela’s surgery has prompted even MORE questions about Lamela’s future in North London, despite the fact that he pretty obviously won’t be passing any physicals for the time being. Pochettino addressed those questions head on recently, saying that he has no idea where those rumors are coming from, and that Erik’s not going anywhere.

“That is so difficult for me to understand.

“It was so strange to hear him linked to different clubs. He has not played since October and after all he has suffered in the last four-to-five months, do you think he is considering a move away from here? Do you think he is thinking about Italy? He is very happy here. He had a problem, he was desperate to try to find a solution and so was the club. It made me laugh every time I heard the rumours about him leaving as it is impossible for him to think about moving now.

“Where [would he go]? Now, he needs help. Who could help him more than we could over the next few months? I think you know the answer better than me. It doesn’t make sense [that he would leave].”

Lamela’s one of those strange players that a lot of fans have never really warmed to. He got off to a bad start at Spurs in an injury shortened season, then took a while to adapt to the pace and style of the Premier League. By last season, he was a key player in Spurs’ midfield and at the beginning of the year it looked unlikely that anyone could dislodge him. But his injury has probably prevented him from locking down a new contract this year, which may be where these rumors of his possible departure are coming from.

Frankly, I’m glad to hear this from Pochettino. Even though he’s really only had one good season for Spurs, we’ve now seen what he can bring to the club. Hopefully this will stop the rumors for a while