Érik Lamela has returned to his former club Roma for treatment on the hip injury that has derailed his season, after he felt that he would benefit on a psychological level from a change of scene in his rehabilitation.

The Tottenham Hotspur winger, whose last appearance came on 25 October in the EFL Cup defeat at Liverpool, initially thought that the problem, which he suffered in training, was not too serious.

But it has failed to respond to treatment and his focus was also interrupted in early December when he had to return to his native Argentina for about a week because for family reasons, his brother having been taken into hospital.

There has long been the sense that Lamela’s rehabilitation from the injury has been problematic and Mauricio Pochettino said that the 24-year-old had grown “very anxious” and had asked to be allowed to see his old physiotherapist at Roma, with whom he has maintained a good relationship.

Lamela is the only member of Pochettino’s first-team squad who is out with an injury and he had come to feel a little isolated during the daily grind of his recovery. Pochettino has been happy to allow Lamela to go back to Roma, where the player is working at the club’s training ground, and he added that Tottenham had sent one of their own medics with him.

Lamela joined Tottenham from Roma for a club record £30m in the summer of 2013 and, when he endured a serious back problem in his first season, he returned to Rome for some of his treatment.

It is unclear when Lamela will be able to play again, with Pochettino talking in vague terms about how he hoped that “in a few weeks, he will maybe be available again to be involved in training sessions with the rest of the group”. The manager, though, was adamant that Lamela would not be out for the remainder of the season. “Of course he will play again this season,” he said. “First of all, the injury was nothing. Then, it was a little bit and then, it was that minor problem still, still, still, every day. Then, he had the problem with his brother. He went to Argentina. Stop. Then he came back, and that affected a little bit his mind and now he was recovering very slowly. And it’s for that, he is very anxious. ‘Oh, I need to go to see …’ OK. Good. It’s good for you to change and maybe you improve quick if, in your mind, you change [the scene].

“It’s always difficult for the player who spends a lot of time [out] – more time than he believes and we believe. With the energy of the team, sometimes he’s frustrated that he cannot be involved and today it’s only him that is out of the group [with an injury].”

Pochettino’s assistant, Jesús Pérez, said: “It’s a small problem in Lamela’s hip with a tiny muscle, and the situation didn’t get fixed. It has taken him so long to get back from a simple injury. And, as the gaffer said, the environment [at Tottenham] doesn’t help him, in terms of positive energy. Now is a good moment for him to go. He asked and we believed it’s fair. We decided to send him to Rome.”