Former Roma star, Erik Lamela, has officially called time on his professional football career, citing long-standing hip problems that have plagued him for more than a decade.
The Argentine winger, who most recently played for Sevilla, confirmed his retirement at the age of 33, explaining that persistent hip pain and multiple surgeries left him with no option but to walk away from the game.
Lamela first began experiencing hip issues as far back as 2014, undergoing operations on both hips in 2017.
Despite battling through rehabilitation and enduring countless treatments, the pain became unmanageable.
Taking to social media, the former Tottenham man explained his decision in an emotional statement, “I want to announce that I have made the decision to end my professional career. It’s a decision I’ve been thinking about for a long time, and the time has finally come.
“For those who don’t know, I have hip problems. They started 11 years ago, and in 2017 I had surgery on both hips, with the left one being more affected. It was a difficult year, I was very scared… I thought it might be the end of my career, and I was 25 years old.
“After the operations went well, they gave me four more years of career. They told me I’d get worse over time, and that’s what I’m experiencing now. With a lot of sacrifice, spending hours with the physiotherapists, strengthening myself in the gym, and with an endless series of injections and treatments, I’ve managed to play more than twice as much!
“This is an effort that only those who have been close to me can truly understand. It hasn’t been easy at all. Being in pain, playing and training with problems has become the norm over time.
“For five years I’ve been taking pills for every match to be able to play in the best possible condition, starting with the lowest dose and recently taking the maximum two days before the match to be ready.
“Now I decide to put an end to all this, now all this effort ends.”
