Why the Time Has Come for Tottenham to Dispense with Erik Lamela

Tottenham Hotspur's record transfer fee has proved to be something of an unfortunate tag. 

Roberto Soldado, David Bentley, Darren Bent, Paulinho and even Sergei Rebrov have held or equalled that label, and none covered themselves in glory at the club.

Luka Modric, whose transfer fee from Dinamo Zagreb equalled Bent's, is the only player in recent memory to buck the trend. He proved to be worth far more than the £16.5 million Spurs spent on him, but he is very much the exception to the rule.

Erik Lamela arrived from Roma after Spurs agreed a provisional £25.7 million, breaking the record for the third time in the 2013 transfer window.

So far, he has failed to leave much of a mark. 

He has produced some excellent highlights since his signing. The rabona in the Europa League, the brilliant winner against Burnley and the astonishing volley for Argentina against Germany were expressions of the talent that he obviously possesses.

In his debut season in England, Lamela struggled with the physicality, and his season was written off after he suffered a back injury. 

Determined to prove himself, Lamela worked his way back to full fitness and was available to start the new season. Unfortunately, familiar problems emerged and he struggled in the first half of the season. 

After Spurs dropped out of the race for the Champions League places, Lamela's best football began to emerge. He showed a tenacity and physical toughness that had previously been lacking.

He ended the season with more assists (10) than any other Spurs player and five goals. Only four players in the squad scored more than him.

Jon Super/Associated Press

As other squad players, notably Christian Eriksen, began to look leggy and struggled for form, Lamela was relatively bright.

There seems to grounds for significant optimism that he could begin to justify his huge fee next season. 

Unfortunately, Spurs do not have time for such optimism. 

They are not in a situation where they can afford to select a player in the hopes that he will improve.

Mauricio Pochettino is building an excellent team.

Having embraced youth at the expense of experience, Pochettino was rewarded with some excellent performances. It is important to remember that in Spurs' two best games this season, at home to Chelsea and Arsenal, the key was all 10 outfield players functioning together. 

If Lamela cannot be relied upon to produce consistently, and there is no reason to believe that he can, the club would be best served by selling him and moving on. 

Pochettino's team will be built around the spine of Hugo Lloris, Jan Vertonghen, Nabil Bentaleb, Eriksen and Harry Kane.

With those players forming the base of the first team, there is little room for a mercurial artist such as Lamela. Pochettino needs foot soldiers. 

Spurs must sell in order to buy, and Lamela's contribution can be matched by players already at the club.

His sale could fund the acquisition of a player Pochettino needs to help his team, such as Morgan Schneiderlin. 

In Serie A, Lamela appeared to be one of the emerging young stars of European football. That Roma were willing to part with such a talent should not be taken as an indication they doubted his potential. After all, they sold Marquinhos to Paris Saint-Germain in the same transfer window for €32 million.

Instead, Roma simply recognised that Spurs were prepared to pay an inflated fee to acquire the Argentinian.

Those shrewd decisions gave Roma the funds to build a better and more balanced team.

After those significant sales, they acquired young players such as Tin Jedvaj, Antonio Sanabria, Adem Ljajic and Lukasz Skorupski, as well as the proven talents of Mehdi Benatia, Gervinho and Kevin Strootman. 

Their team was unquestionably stronger despite the sale of two very promising players, and they subsequently jumped from sixth place the previous season into second.

They are now a consistent Champions League club.

The summer of 2013 was an exceptional one for Spurs. Armed with the immense fee earned from the sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid, they were compelled to pay inflated prices.

Lamela is not worth the fee Spurs paid for him now because he wasn't worth it two years ago.  

Despite that, he is still young and has huge potential, and many clubs around Europe are sure to be willing to offer a significant fee for the opportunity to bring him in. 

Spurs have no room for sentiment at this stage.

Their fans are often secretly optimistic. Many believe that Lamela's individual moments of brilliance can be consistently achieved. They are probably wrong. 

Fabrizio Giovannozzi/Associated Press

Pochettino needs players that can help his team immediately. There is risk in bringing in new players, but intelligent transfers, like many of those masterminded by new scouting chief Paul Mitchell at Southampton, are inherently less of a gamble. 

If Mitchell and Pochettino can identify players they are confident can improve Spurs now, the sale of Lamela would be the correct move.