When Tottenham paid £25.8M for their club record signing back in 2013 it was met with optimism and caution, a boy us fans had barely heard of. He flew into the concrete jungle from Rome as a 21-year-old with only two seasons of European football under his belt, he was thrown into the lion’s den of a north London derby.
As a second-half substitute in the 75th minute he looked lost, a minimal amount of touches and a wild shot. We lost the game and the caution for Erik turned to worry. Had we really just broken our transfer record for this guy? That season was one to forget for Erik, it ended with injury and even more weight on those young shoulders.
His second season was an improvement but let’s face it it’s not hard to eclipse his first. A few goals in the Europa league including a wonder goal against Asteras Tripoli, however, he was showing signs of repaying that hefty price tag, and under the new manager and fellow countryman Mauricio Pochettino, we Spurs fans began to believe that he could be instrumental.
The 14/15 season ended and we narrowly missed our goal of top four. Pochettino began to trim his squad and yet again rumours of Lamela’s departure began to surface but he stayed and had his best season by a long way. With the manager’s arm firmly around him, he shone in the 15/16 season, scoring 11 goals in 44 appearances in all competitions and many positives for all to see. He worked hard and his stats showed he really adopted Pochettino’s style and became a permanent fixture in the team.
His hat trick against Monaco blew away the fans and we all believed that Erik will be the player we all hoped he would be. From what I saw in our pre-season tour of Australia he could be a game changer, the difference in tight games, he looked fitter, stronger and his physique that of a Ronaldo or a bale.
He changed the game against Juventus coming on at half time 2-0 down, not only was it his goal but the reaction his presence had. The younger lads were lifted after a poor first half, yes it was a weakened Juve team, but never the less you have to beat what’s in front of you and we ran them ragged second half.
Then on to Inter Milan a solid team performance and a standout demonstration from Erik and a terrific goal, I really believe he could be the catalyst player this season.
Erik is now a concrete figure at the club and international level. He will be instrumental to our club next season just watch this space.
