AVB: Record Breaking Signing Needs Time To Adjust To England

Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas says that Erik Lamela must be given time to adapt to life in England as he is still attempting to learn a new language.

Lamela made the move from Roma to White Hart Lane in the summer for a fee of around £30m and has thus far failed to impress in the Premier League while other signings such as Christian Eriksen and Roberto Soldado have stood out after heading to England.

Villas-Boas has explained that this is because of the language barrier for Lamela, but he still expects the Argentinean to demonstrate his talent once he is fully settled.

Villas-Boas told PA: "We have been speaking a lot with him. I think getting acquainted to the Premier League is important but he doesn't know the language.

"[Roberto] Soldado had some knowledge of the language before (he came) so it was a little bit easier for him.

"With Erik it was a little bit more difficult but we have given him massive, massive help and his family arrived this week.

"He knows he isn't producing half of what he can produce but he understands the situation now is that he has to compete for his place."

When asked if the £30m price tag put extra pressure for the manager to select Lamela for Tottenham, he replied: "Not really, no."

Lamela was one of a host of new faces to arrive at White Hart Lane in the summer as the side sought to replace the outgoing Gareth Bale.

The Argentina international was expected to take Bale's role in the Spurs side but he has struggled to force his way into the first team as Andros Townsend has been the one to grab the headlines.