Former Tottenham forward Erik Lamela has been appointed as the kitman of Mexican side CF Monterrey.

The Argentine, 34, retired last summer after a long battle with injury, struggling to fight a hip issue, with his final club AEK Athens in Greece following a stint at Sevilla after he left Tottenham.

He had returned to Sevilla in his retirement to work on the coaching staff under Matias Almeyda, but is now moving clubs.

Almeyda left Sevilla in March and swiftly moved to North America, where he would take up the role of head coach at Monterrey, and Lamela has followed him.

But he cannot take up the role of a coach due to the lack of required qualifications. Liga MX rules say coaches in the league must have official certification through the Federation Mexican de Futbol, and, since Lamela does not reach the standards, he isn't allowed to work the role.

But he has exploited a loophole by instead being appointed kitman of the club, meaning he can be on the bench during matches.

It is understood that Lamela is working towards obtaining his UEFA Pro license, and will likely be promoted when he earns that.

Monterrey's goalkeeping coach Fabian Donelli finds himself in a similar situation.

Though he never quite reached the heights hoped of him after joining Tottenham for £30million in 2013 following Gareth Bale's departure, Lamela did play for the north London club for eight years.

In that time, he played 257 times for Spurs, scoring 37 goals, and was an unused substitute in the 2019 Champions League final defeat by Liverpool.

He also won the Puskas Award in 2021 for an impressive rabona goal against rivals Arsenal in the Premier League.