Andre Villas-Boas has insisted that club-record signing Erik Lamela will be a success at Tottenham Hotspur, but admits that the £30m man may take some time to settle in the Premier League.
The Argentine forward has made two brief substitute appearances for Spurs since arriving from Roma as part of the club's summer spending spree of more than £100m.
Manager Villas-Boas has great confidence in the 21-year-old's ability, but concedes that Lamela's age and the language barrier may prevent him from making an immediate impact at White Hart Lane.
"He's going to suffer problems of adaptation because he doesn't speak a word of English," Villas-Boas told reporters. "He has to adapt to a completely different culture and mentality, which we are sure he will, but we're unsure of how much time it will take, but he will.
"I think the qualities he brings are his creativeness, his ability to find the last pass that leads to a goal. He's a natural talent. He's not a pure, pure winger; he's creative and likes to come inside and find different spaces. He's a player with tremendous potential that we have to work on.
"He's a wonderful, gifted footballer. The fact he's yet to train with the team puts him in a very difficult position to start the game, but it is not impossible. For somebody so gifted, adapting shouldn't be a problem."
Lamela scored 15 goals in 33 Serie A appearances for Roma last season and has been capped three times at international level since debuting for Argentina in 2011.
Joe Fish
