Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has insisted that Erik Lamela is "very happy" at the club amid speculation linking him with a move away from White Hart Lane.
The 24-year-old has been sidelined since October due to a persistent hip injury and sparked rumours over his future when he opted to return to former club Roma to undergo treatment on the problem.
However, the Argentine is expected to return to training on Friday, and Pochettino is confident that there is no truth in reports that he is unhappy at the club.
"We will expect that Lamela will be here [on Friday]. In the moment he arrives we will assess him to see how he is. The last scan in Roma showed there was no issue, there is still pain in his hip joint but now it is important to meet us and stay here with the group and push him to keep his fitness and achieve the level of the team and be available as soon as possible," he told reporters.
"There are a lot of rumours. He asked to go to Rome to change the place and maybe inspire him to recover quickly. You cannot control all the rumours but he is very happy. We keep in touch every day and maybe he was a little worried by some comments.
"He is very happy here, very focused and has suffered a lot because he is a player who likes to play football and it shows when he is on the pitch, all the rumours do not help him."
Lamela will not feature in Saturday's FA Cup clash with Wycombe Wanderers but could be involved for Tuesday's Premier League trip to Sunderland.
