Roma have announced the signing of attacking midfielder Erik Lamela from relegated Argentine Primera Division side River Plate, for a fee of €12 million.

The 19-year-old's move to the Olimpico has been in the pipeline throughout the summer, but now the transfer has been rubber-stamped, and the attacker has penned a potentially lucrative five-year deal with Luis Enrique's men.

A statement on the club's official website reads: "For the acquisition of Erik Lamela, an agreement has been reached for a fee equal to €12 million, payable in three instalments; firstly, €3 million at the time of issuing the certificate of the international transfer [immediately], then another €3 million, payable on October 15, 2011 and €6 million, payable on July 15, 2012.

"The footballer has signed a five-year contract, with effect from the date of issue and expiry on June 30, 2016, where he will earn €1.8 million euros for the season 2011-2012, raising to 2.15 million, for the seasons 2012-2013 and 2013-2014, €2.5 million for the 2014-2015 season, and €2.86 million euros for the season 2015/2016, in addition to additional achievement bonuses."

The young Argentine will now proceed to join his new team in pre-season preparations, and follows Gabriel Heinze, Bojan Krkic, Jose Angel and Maarten Stekelenburg amongst the new faces in Rome this season.