Day: November 28, 2017

Tottenham attacker Erik Lamela is set to return to a football pitch after 13 months out through injury.

The Argentine has not featured for the Lilywhites since October 25 last year when they were knocked out of the EFL Cup by Liverpool. He had been treated in Rome and other places before returning to London for the final phase of his recovery.

Mauricio Pochettino had earlier in the season admitted that Lamela’s injury was a mysterious one and he could not say when the attacker would be ready to play again. However, speaking ahead of his side’s match against Leicester  City, Pochettino was happy to announce that Lamela is now available for selection.

Lamela who cost Spurs £30 million in the summer of 2013 as they looked to cover the void left by the sale of Gareth Bale would also be delighted to be back as he seem to be a better player under the tutelage of Pochettino after initially struggling to justify his price tag.

Many fans may have given up on Lamela, but Pochettino insists that he believed all along that his fellow country man would be back sooner.

Former Nigeria International Michael Emenalo has been unveiled as the new Sporting director of AS Monaco.

Emenalo spent ten years at Chelsea and left just 21 days ago claiming he wanted to see his kids grow and also reflect on the work his has done so far.

However,  the 52 years old has now taken up a role in Monaco and would report directly to the club’s Russian vice-President Vadim Vasilyev.

He held several positions at Chelsea before being promoted to Technical Director in 2011.

During his time with the Blues he oversaw the signing of some of their best players including Eden Hazard, N’Golo Kante, and David Luiz.

He also oversaw the sale of some fringe players like Kevin De Bruyne, Mohammed Salah, and Romelu Lukaku. These transfers netted the Blues huge profits, but the players would go on to have better careers and command larger fees for the buying clubs.

He is said to have fallen out with both Antonio Conte and Roman Abramovich after a poor summer that saw the Blues lose out to their rivals on the signing of some of their key targets, and he was also blamed for the sale of Nemanja Matic to rivals Manchester United.

Vasilyev is delighted to have landed Emenalo as claimed his recruitment shows they remain committed to being one of the best teams in Europe.