Manuel Lanzini (born 15 February 1993) is an Argentine footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for English club West Ham United and the Argentina national team. He has previously played for River Plate and Fluminense. He is described as possessing phenomenal dribbling ability, as well as fantastic acceleration and vision and the ability to ghost past defenders.He is nicknamed "La Joya" ("the jewel").
On 22 July 2015, Lanzini signed for Premier League side West Ham United on a season-long loan, with an option to make the move permanent.He made his debut on 6 August in the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round away to Astra Giurgiu, starting the match and scoring in the third minute, however the Hammers lost 2–1 (4–3 on aggregate) and were eliminated. His league debut came on 15 August as a 76th-minute substitute for Cheikhou Kouyaté in a 1–2 home defeat to Leicester City.On 29 August, he scored his first league goal after just three minutes away to Liverpool, and assisted a Mark Noble goal as the Hammers won 3–0 for their first victory at Anfield since 1963.In March 2016, West Ham confirmed that they had taken up the option to sign Lanzini on a permanent deal, with effect from 1 July 2016.
In May 2016, Lanzini was named in Argentina's provisional 35-man squad for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.He withdrew from the squad in July 2016 following a knee injury sustained while training in Miami, Florida, returning to London for treatment with West Ham United.[55] In May 2017 Lanzini was named in new Argentina manager Jorge Sampaoli’s first squad for the upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Singapore, with Lanzini making his full international debut on 9 June against Brazil at the MCG in Melbourne, Australia, replacing Ever Banega in the 81st minute of La Albiceleste's 1–0 win. On 23 March 2018 he played a friendly match against Italy at Etihad Stadium in Manchester and scored his first international goal, as Argentina secured a 2–0 victory.On 21 May 2018 he was named in Argentina’s final 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia,[57] and started in the 4–0 friendly win against Haiti on 29 May in Buenos Aires, playing an hour before being substituted for Maximiliano Meza.On 8 June 2018, Lanzini was ruled out of the World Cup after suffering a ruptured anterior knee ligament injury in training.
Goals & Skills of Manuel Lanzini