Lamela set for Spurs return after injury

Lamela hasn't played for Tottenham since October and reports suggested the forward might try to engineer a transfer back to Italy when he opted to return there for his treatment rather then remain in England.

The 24-year-old played down those rumours this week and Pochettino revealed on Thursday that Lamela is due back for evaluation shortly.

"We will expect that Lamela will be here (on Friday)," he said at his press conference ahead of Saturday's FA Cup fourth round clash with Wycombe.

"When he arrives we will assess him to see how he is.

"The last scan in Roma showed there was no issue, there is still pain in his hip joint but now it is important to meet us and stay here with the group and push him to keep his fitness and achieve the level of the team and be available as soon as possible."

Asked about the speculation linking Argentina international Lamela to a move, Pochettino said: "There are a lot of rumours.

"He asked to go to Rome to change the place and maybe inspire him to recover quickly, you cannot control all the rumours but he is very happy.

"We keep in touch every day and maybe he was a little worried by some comments.

"He is very happy here, very focused and has suffered a lot because he is a player who likes to play football and it shows when he is on the pitch, all the rumours do not help him."