The Telegraph claim the death of Simba is understood to have been particularly upsetting for Lamela, who shared pictures of himself with his pet on his personal Instagram account and spoke fondly of his dog to Tottenham’s official website.
Tottenham midfielder Lamela suffers devastating double blow – report
By Harry Sykes
Erik Lamela’s rehabilitation from injury has been derailed by the death of his pet dog Simba, according to a report.
The Telegraph claim the Tottenham attacking midfielder is devastated at the loss of his pooch and “is struggling to get over the death”.
It is said that grief-stricken Lamela suffered the loss of Simba shortly after returning to England following a dash to his native Argentina to be at the bedside of his brother, who had been seriously injured in an accident.
The Telegraph reports the two emotional traumas have coincided with a slow recovery from the hip injury that has sidelined Lamela since October.
He was initially expected to be out for only a short period but his comeback has been continually delayed before requesting to undergo the rest of his rehab in Rome.
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Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino revealed at the start of January that Lamela needed a change of scenery and that he had given the green light for the club-record £30million signing to go to Rome to work on his fitness and his mental state.
Lamela underwent a scan on his hip in Rome last Friday that revealed no major problems and he remains in Italy working on his fitness with no date yet set for his return.
But the Argentine is still considered a crucial member of the squad and was a mainstay of the team in the 18 months before his injury.
The 24-year-old has made 14 appearances this season, scoring two goals and providing an impressive seven assists.
In total, the 22-times Argentina international has scored 19 goals and supplied 31 assists in 121 matches for Spurs.
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