Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is not expected to have Erik Lamela available for selection until October at the earliest, reports Sky Sports.
Lamela hasn’t featured for Tottenham since October last year and underwent surgery in April to correct a hip problem that ruled him out of most of last season.
The 25-year-old’s recovery was complicated by a family incident that saw the former Roma winger return to Argentina and now the Tottenham No.11 is facing the prospect of missing an entire calendar year through injury.
Tottenham still have no intentions of selling their £30m investment, who has two years left on his existing deal.
Lamela was a crucial part of the way Tottenham played under Pochettino prior to injury and it took the north London outfit some time to adjust without his high intensity pressing game from the front.
In fact, from the start of August 2015 up until his final appearance against Liverpool at the end of October 2016, only Idrissa Gueye (80) had completed more fouls in the Premier League than Lamela (79).
For more stats on Erik Lamela, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
