Tottenham are set to become the envy of much of the Premier League once again, as Erik Lamela edges closer to a move from Roma.

The Serie A club, however, and unlike most clubs around Europe, will find themselves in two transfer categories this summer: “Outstanding business” and “What were you thinking?”

On one hand, the sale of Marquinhos to PSG for a little over €30 million is a no brainer, 12 months after picking him up for an initial fee of €1.5 million. Then came the reinforcements, first with Kevin Strootman from PSV, certainly one of the standout pieces of business in Serie A this summer, as well as Mehdi Benatia from Udinese. The club, obviously, have had to balance the books too. Out went Pablo Osvaldo, Bojan Krkic, Maarten Stekelenburg and, shockingly, Nico Lopez as part of the Benatia deal, and now Lamela could too be on his way out, the only player bar Daniele De Rossi and probably Francesco Totti who can lead a charge on the league title – if that’s the club’s aspirations.

But Tottenham’s links to Roma via Franco Baldini could see them as the beneficiaries. It’s been said that new manager Rudi Garcia favours Miralem Pjanic over Lamela if one of the two is to be sold, though having previously coached Eden Hazard, you would have thought the former Lille manager would know a major talent if he saw one in his squad. Pjanic is good, but Lamela is something else.

And there should be no ill feeling from Tottenham after losing Gareth Bale, which, despite everything, still doesn’t seem 100 per cent certain at this point. As I’ve said countless times over the summer, Bale is not worth £86 million, or £100 million, or whatever it is Florentino Perez is about to pay. Some would question why the Real Madrid president doesn’t just go after Lamela at a far cheaper price instead of the Welshman, as the Argentine, to some, is more talented than Bale. But Perez doesn’t think like that.

But Tottenham are very clear in their approach. Coupled with the expertise of Baldini, the club have identified a number of replacements for Bale this summer, with Lamela the pick of the bunch.

Here is a player who offers much of the qualities of Bale. Lamela plays wide but naturally drifts inside. His numbers last season show just how integral he can be to any side in the final third, with 15 goals and five assists in the league. His potential for greatness also far surpasses Tottenham and their current standing in English and European football – and that’s by no means an insult. It says a lot about Tottenham now, a team behind the scenes who are effective as well as diligent, that they’re able to get so far down the road in an attempt to secure one of Europe’s best talents. Lamela, as of now, is good enough to play for Manchester United or PSG or any of the major hitters in European football.

With what could round out to be Tottenham’s most impressive summer of activity, they’ve not only replaced Bale and all that potential with Lamela, but also strengthened right across the board, shipping out players who serve little to no purpose and bringing in talents who would be highly coveted by clubs competing in the Champions League.

Make no mistake, Lamela will offer Tottenham fans the edge-of-your-seat performances that were so prevalent with Bale in the team, combining technical class, creativity and a goal threat that will see him eventually – and sooner rather than later – become one of the leading names in England. He’s already one of the best players in Italy, and there’s no doubt that the sting of his departure will long be felt by Roma and its supporters.

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Will Lamela round out Tottenham’s best summer of business in recent memory?

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