Lucas Moura made the switch from Paris Saint-Germain to Tottenham Hotspur in January after a lack of playing time in the French capital.
Stiff competition for places saw him low down the pecking under PSG manager Unai Emery, so the Brazilian sought greener pastures elsewhere at the winter transfer window's end.
However, since his arrival in London, Lucas has hardly featured for Spurs, spending most of his time on the bench as he did in France. So, what’s gone wrong?
Joined Spurs with no match fitness
The 25-year-old racked up a meagre 80 minutes of playing time this season before Spurs brought him to the club. He spent the last three months of his PSG career as an unused substitute and being left out of the matchday squad entirely.
After making more than 220 appearances in all competitions over five years, the manner he left the Parc des Princes may have left a sour taste. PSG paid £30.5m to sign the then-19-year-old winger from Sao Paulo and he was tipped for greatness in Paris.
However, as the Ligue 1 giants' reputation grew, the calibre of players they could attract rose, meaning Lucas was gradually being phased out. With Kylian Mbappe, Angel Di Maria, Julian Draxler and Neymar now making up a star-studded attack, Lucas didn’t stand a chance of keeping his place.
The winger joined Tottenham with a view to competing with Erik Lamela, Heung-min Son and Christian Eriksen for playing time. However, Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino has clearly deemed him not fit enough to feature, as Lucas has amassed just 258 minutes of playing time in his three months at the club.
Danny Rose revealed earlier this season that Pochettino doesn’t accept just any level of fitness, he demands his players be in the best condition before he will consider them for selection. With Lucas having little to no competitive football in 2017/18, he clearly isn’t sharp enough to get game time.
Pochettino has some indispensable players
The ex-PSG man has all the attributes to be a useful player in the Tottenham side - he’s pacey, industrious and can take on his opponent. However, he didn’t bank on the form of those ahead of him to keep him away from the first-team fold.
Eriksen has scored and created 25 goals in all competitions this season, while Son has contributed 28 goals for his troubles. Lamela made his return in November and had been making impressive cameo appearances at the time of Lucas’ arrival; so he was more likely to get game time over the new recruit.
The South American winger finds himself in the same situation as PSG. He’s hardly racking up minutes, so his match fitness fails to improve and there are better-performing players keeping him sidelined.
He’s only three months into a five-and-a-half-year deal so there’s still plenty of time for Lucas to settle, but he’ll be fully aware of how little he’s played for any side this season – 337 minutes for PSG and Tottenham in all competitions.
Spurs haven’t been suffering in his absence so Pochettino hasn’t felt a need to make drastic changes. And with just a handful of games left this campaign, Lucas may have to wait until next season to make an impact.
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