Jose Mourinho is hopeful that Erik Lamela will return from his hamstring injury to feature in Tottenham Hotspur’s Christmas fixtures.
The Argentine winger has not played since scoring one and assisting two more in the 5-0 victory over Red Star Belgrade on October 22nd.
That means Mourinho is yet to have the opportunity to work with the 27-year-old, and has acknowledged that he “needs” Lamela back in the frame to add greater depth to his attacking options.
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“Been out for two months… not one training session with me,” Mourinho is quoted as saying by the London Evening Standard “Never. I’m still waiting for his first training session. Hopefully soon.
“I hope I can have him for Christmas. When I say Christmas, I’m not saying Chelsea on the 22nd. But I hope maybe the 28th, first of January.
“I need him. If I am to play with more defensive players than I do and have only one or two attackers then I have two on the bench. In this moment with Dele [Alli] and [Heung-min] Son and [Harry] Kane then we have not attacking players on the bench. So I need Lamela.”
While Mourinho hasn’t seen any of Lamela up close yet, Spurs fans have seen enough to know what the injury-hit South American offers.
He often starts the season in decent form, as he did this year, before breaking down again and missing big chunks of the campaign.
We do need an alternative to Lucas Moura on the right of the front four. The Brazilian deserves to play a more prominent role than he did under Mauricio Pochettino but shouldn’t be a bona-fide starter every week.
I would rather see Ryan Sessegnon or Giovani Lo Celso given any opportunities that Mourinho is lining up for Lamela upon his return. I’ve grown impatient with Lamela’s fitness and I’m sure Jose will too, in time.
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