Tottenham Hotspur’s absent star Erik Lamela is struggling to get over the death of his dog Simba as he continues his rehabilitation from a hip injury in Rome.

Lamela has not played for Tottenham since October last year when he first suffered a hip problem in training, which sparked a run of bad luck that has kept him out of manager Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

The 24-year-old’s recovery was put on hold when he was forced to rush back to Argentina after his brother was seriously injured in an accident.

Lamela returned to England to find his injury had got worse and then suffered the blow of his beloved dog Simba dying, before requesting to undergo the rest of his rehab in Rome.