Ex-Tottenham & Argentina star Erik Lamela opens up on 11-year struggle with hip pain that forced him to retire after taking painkillers every day for five years

Lamela has hung up his boots at the age of 33. In a candid farewell, he revealed that the decision was a direct result of a decade-long battle with hip pain. What began as a minor discomfort in his early 20s escalated into a chronic condition, with cartilage wear and advanced osteoarthritis forcing him to make the difficult decision to step away from the sport.

He explained that his hip pain started early in his career, saying: "My first pains started when I was 22, when I started to feel discomfort. At 25, I ended up having surgery because I couldn't compete due to the pain. The operation went well, and well, I kept playing. But from then on, everything was different for me because it's like they replaced my hip. I've never had the same hip I had before."

After rising through the ranks at River Plate and a successful stint at Roma, he became a fan favourite at Tottenham, where he spent eight seasons. Despite his undeniable talent, his time in north London was punctuated by long injury layoffs, with his hip becoming an increasingly difficult challenge to manage.

Lamela's desire to compete pushed him to find a way to "live with the pain." This meant adapting his entire training regimen to accommodate his deteriorating hip.  He explained that his final seasons were particularly challenging, as the pain made it impossible to train normally leading him to take painkillers in the final five years of his career.

In an interview with TyC Sports, Lamela opened up about his injury and how he had to overcome pain to get through every match.

"I retired due to a physical issue that had been bothering me for a long time," he said. "I wanted to finish my career in the best possible way, enjoying it as much as possible despite this problem, which was quite difficult. This problem was even more serious because I had suffered from cartilage wear and advanced osteoarthritis recently."

Lamela further added: "These last few years were much more serious in the sense that my hip was increasingly affected and I could no longer train like before. That's why I had to modify the way I trained because if I trained during the week, I wouldn't play the game, because my hip couldn't maintain certain performance levels during the week."

Lamela has now shifted his focus to a new chapter. He has already joined Sevilla in a coaching capacity, having had a positive relationship with coach Matias Almeyda during his time there.