FOOTBALL:Lamela 'will improve dramatically' at Tottenham, says Ricky Villa

Tottenham icon Ricky Villa believes Erik Lamela will "improve dramatically" at White Hart Lane.

Roma announced that they have agreed a deal worth €30 million, plus €5m in add-ons, with Spurs for Lamela on Wednesday afternoon.

Andre Villas-Boas and new technical director Franco Baldini identified the 21-year-old Argentine as their top target to replace Real Madrid-bound Gareth Bale, and Villa believes they made an excellent choice.

"Lamela will improve dramatically as a player at Tottenham," he told Goal. "I think the arrival of Erik Lamela to Tottenham is fantastic. The manager is building up a super-competitive team.

"European football in general is lacking in footballers that are capable of creating, of inventing. English football is very dynamic, very quick, but it’s lacking in the volumen de juego (inventiveness,creativity) that players like Lamela can bring to the table."

Lamela moved from River Plate to Italy in 2011 following the Argentine giants' relegation, and Villa believes his experience of playing in Serie A will stand him in good stead upon his arrival in England, despite the differences between the two cultures.

"I don’t think he’ll have any trouble adapting when it comes purely to football," he added. "It’s true that the Premier League is not the same as Serie A, but Erik already has the European footballer mentality.

"He’s got a different level of discipline, a different kind of training, of dealing with the press. He learned all that in his two years in Italy. Besides, the manager is from Portugal, and Portuguese people in general understand South American footballers better."

Villa moved to Tottenham, alongside Ossie Ardiles, from Racing Club in 1978, and does not foresee the same kind of culture shock for Lamela that he experienced 35 years ago.

"These days it is a lot easier to adapt," he continued. "You’ve got social networks, internet, etc. With Osvaldo [Ardiles], we went into what was in effect a different world. We were disconnected, it was like an adventure for us. We had no contact whatsoever with Argentina. We were used to a completely different life. You had to walk for a while to find a telephone and make a call.

"The trouble for an Argentine that arrives to the Premier League is adapting to life in England, to the language, to the habits. But I don’t think that would be a big problem for Erik. There is a different level when it comes to the relationship between players and fans and vice versa. We (the Argentines) are more similar to the Italians. If we compare everything with Argentina, England is a step above.
"