West Ham fans have been making a lot of noise in the Transfer Tavern in the last week or so having seen their side return to form.
Slaven Bilic’s men lost their opening three Premier League matches of the season to increase the pressure on the Croat, yet they hit back in their first game at the London Stadium last week by beating Huddersfield Town 2-0.
And they backed that up with a decent 0-0 draw away at West Brom last weekend, before booking their place in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night after easing past Bolton Wanderers 3-0, where they will go on to face London rivals Tottenham in the last 16.
That tie is due to be played on week commencing October 23, but it remains to be seen whether midfielder Manuel Lanzini will be available for selection, as recent reports suggest that he could face another month on the sidelines due to an ongoing knee problem.
The 24-year-old has played just 45 minutes of football for the Hammers this term – this all after his best season for the East London outfit in which he scored eight goals and laid on two assists in 35 Premier League appearances, and certainly did his bit to compensate for the departure of Dimitri Payet in January.
However, this latest injury setback has slightly concerned some of our resident West Ham fans, and thus here are THREE reasons why they should consider selling the Argentine in the New Year…
Where does he fit in?
With the summer arrivals of Javier Hernandez and Marko Arnautovic, both of whom for big money, it all begs the question, where does Lanzini fit in if and when everybody is fit?
Bilic has got Hernandez, Arnautovic, Andy Carroll, Michail Antonio, and the likes of Andre Ayew and Diafra Sakho who will all be commanding regular football, and it remains to be seen whether he can indeed get them all in.
The likes of Pedro Obiang and Cheikhou Kouyate would give the Hammers more industry and strength in the centre of midfield than the Argentine, and depending on the system Bilic implements, be it a back three or four, there may well be no place for the 24-year-old.
Injuries stunting his progress
Lanzini is struggling to shake off a knee injury which has restricted him to just 44 minutes of action this season, and looks set to keep him out for another month.
And there must be concerns among the West Ham staff that the issue could be worse than first feared, and could indeed have repercussions later on in his career.
And with other niggling injuries during his time at West Ham, notably thigh and hamstring troubles back in 2015/16, you wonder how well he will bounce back from this latest setback, and whether he’d be the same player again for the Hammers after a length lay-off.
They may have no choice come January
It may not be a case of whether they should sell Lanzini in January, they may not have any choice if other moves pan out as they could in the New Year.
Much of the speculation surrounding Lanzini’s future came as a result of Barcelona’s pursuit of Philippe Coutinho, with the West Ham man seen as a possible replacement for the Brazil international.
That move didn’t happen, but it doesn’t mean that it won’t happen in January, which could put West Ham in the tricky position of trying to fend off interest from a bigger club in one of their star assets.
And their cause won’t be helped if they cannot agree an improved deal with the 24-year-old before then, which could leave the Hammers vulnerable to losing the midfielder in January regardless.
