Ardiles champions summer signing.
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Former Tottenham Hotspur player and manager Ossie Ardiles says that he believes new summer signing Erik Lamela is the new Lionel Messi and is already a better player than the now departed Gareth Bale, the Metro reports.
Lamela was brought into the White Heart Lane club for a record fee over the summer after Andre Villas-Boas marked him down as a future star.
But according to compatriot Ardiles, Lamela can be as good as Barcelona superstar Messi, and is already a better option for Spurs than Bale was.
“Lamela needs a little more time to bed into Tottenham but he will prove to be a great purchase,” explained Ardiles.
“He is not as powerful but he is more skilled than Bale.
“He has been nicknamed the ‘new Messi’ and that’s right – it’s a sign of how talented he is.”
Lamela was part of a mass rebuilding project undertaken by the club over the summer that saw Spurs spending £100m on new players in the wake of Bale leaving for Real Madrid.
And Ardiles believes the business Spurs managed to do will stand them in good stead for the future.
“We need players who can create but also finish over the summer,” he added.
“Spurs did that and we had a fantastic transfer window with players for the future.”