33-year-old Lamela announced her retirement on August 14 and joined Sevilla's coaching team. He explained in detail the reasons for his decision in an interview with TYC.
Lamela: "I chose to retire because I was troubled by physical problems for a long time. I wanted to end my career in the best way and enjoy the game as much as possible, although the injury caused me a lot. In fact, it was a very serious problem because I had cartilage wear and severe arthritis."
Then, he mentioned that his retirement was mainly caused by hip injury: "I started to feel pain at the age of 22, and by the age of 25, I underwent surgery because I couldn't bear the pain. After the surgery, I continued to play football. But since then, everything changed and it felt like I had a new hip, and I could never get back to my previous feeling."
Nevertheless, Lamela said that he learned to coexist with the pain and his competitive spirit prompted him to continue playing football. But he admitted that the last few years have become even harder: "In recent years, my hip condition has been getting worse and worse, and I can no longer train like before. So, I have to change the way I train or I will not be able to play."
Eventually, he said he was forced to retreat from the top league, but he thought it was a wise decision. Despite the difficulties, he still enjoyed this time, which was his original intention.
In a farewell letter posted on Instagram, Ramela revealed the reason for his retirement: "I have needed painkillers in every game over the past five years to play."