Last week, West Ham made Argentinian midfielder Manuel Lanzini their seventh summer signing, with the 22-year-old joining on a season-long loan from UAE Arabian Gulf League side Al-Jazira, with an option to make the move permanent.
New Hammers boss Slaven Bilic was glowing in his praise of Lanzini, nicknamed “The Jewel”, and likened the new acquisition to a certain Man City playmaker:
“I watched him two years ago and I wanted to take him to Besiktas, but it was difficult. Now, the chance has come to get him, he’s going to help us a lot as he will add even more creativity in the crucial parts of the pitch. At the age of 20, he was given the No 10 jersey at River Plate who, with Boca Juniors, are a massive club of course. He’s not very strong but he rides challenges, he doesn’t go down – so I hope he could be big for us. There are deep playmakers like [Andrea] Pirlo or [Luka] Modric or you have playmakers between the lines up front like Silva. He’s more like him but he can play in all positions behind the strikers.”
THE HISTORY
Having come through the youth system at River Plate, Lanzini made his senior debut as a 17-year-old in a 1-0 win over Tigre in August 2010. He made 22 appearances for Los Millonarios during the 2010/11 season, although he failed to find the back of the net. Lanzini then spent the 2011/12 campaign on loan at Brazilian side Fluminese, where he made 37 appearances in all competitions, scoring five goals, and helped them win the Carioca in 2012.
Upon his return to River Plate ahead of the 2012/13 season, Lanzini was handed the coveted number ten shirt, worn by the likes of Ariel Ortega, and went on to provide eight goals and two assists in 26 league appearances before stepping up his creativity the following year, delivering five goals and nine assists from 41 outings in all competitions.
In 2014, Lanzini joined Al-Jazira, and scored eight goals in 24 league appearances alongside former Juventus and Roma forward Mirko Vucinic, helping secure a second-place finish in the league.
Lanzini has also been capped four times for Argentina at under-20 level, but has yet to earn a call-up to the senior side.
THE PROSPECTS
Although Bilic has opted for 4-4-2 on occasion during the summer, the Hammers are expected to line up in a 4-2-3-1 for the season ahead. The Croatian primarily employed that formation during his time at Besiktas and rolled out such a system for last weekend’s trip to Charlton.
This would certainly enhance Lanzini’s prospects of finding a place in West Ham’s starting XI, with the young Argentine taking up one of the places alongside fellow new signing Dimitri Payet in the three attacking midfield slots behind a lone striker. This would see the likes of Enner Valencia, Matt Jarvis, Morgan Amalfitano and Mauro Zarate battle it out for the final berth, with Diafra Sakho looking favourite to lead the line.
In terms of match sharpness, though, the new boy has conceded he’s a little behind his team-mates, which indicates he may be eased into life in the top flight until his fitness is up to speed for the demands of the Premier League:
“First of all, I want to settle here, this is a very difficult and competitive league. It’s then about being at the same level as my teammates and getting into the starting XI as quickly as I can. I have already spoken with the manager. I told him I was looking forward to starting training, to getting fit and getting up to speed with my colleagues.”
Certainly, once he’s fully fit, Lanzini – at a price of just 5.5 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), could warrant some consideration should he live up to Bilic’s expectations and establish himself as a first-team regular at Upton Park. At this point, though, Payet (7.5) and Sakho (6.5) look the strongest options right now, with the former – who created more scoring opportunities than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues last term – also handed dead-ball duties by Bilic.
Judging by his manager’s comments, Lanzini is clearly a favourite of Bilic’s and the Hammers’ new coach Julian Dicks has also been suitably impressed by what he’s seen in training.
Whilst the Hammers’ first three away matches (ars, liv, mci) are hardly enticing, their first four fixtures at Upton Park pit them against Leicester, Bournemouth, Newcastle and Norwich in the opening seven Gameweeks, suggesting Bilic’s side may well deserve our Fantasy attention. For now, Lanzini looks one to monitor but once he’s up to speed, the Argentine may well emerge as one of the strongest options in the budget midfield bracket.
