ExWHUemployee: West Ham midfielder Manuel Lanzini set to miss rest of 20/21 season
West Ham midfielder Manuel Lanzini is likely to miss the conclusion of the 2020/21 Premier League season, according to ExWHUemployee.
The Irons insider has shared the potentially devastating news via their personal Twitter profile, a week after the Argentine playmaker was forced off through injury in the first half of a 1-0 loss to Everton.
“I think he is out for the season now,” they wrote in response to a question asking whether Lanzini would be back fit for the final two matches of the season next week.
That means David Moyes will be shorn of the 28-year-old’s services for the trip to West Brom on Wednesday and Sunday’s showdown with Southampton at the London Stadium.
Lanzini has played 17 Premier League games this season and scored just once, but it was a last-minute equaliser against London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in October that Daily Mail journalist Martin Samuel called “stunning”.
West Ham are currently sixth in the Premier League after drawing 1-1 at Brighton on Saturday evening, a result that leaves them five points behind Chelsea who occupy the fourth and final Champions League position.
When one door closes…
Losing Lanzini for the rest of the season is a big blow, despite there only being two games left.
He has not been a regular in the starting XI this season, owing to the fine form of attackers like Jarrod Bowen and Jesse Lingard, but he had started to make his presence known in recent weeks with an impressive outing against Burnley.
Lanzini started and completed the Turf Moor clash in a deeper, central midfield role alongside Tomas Soucek with Declan Rice and Mark Noble both missing from the squad.
It’s a shame he broke down against Everton and he was absent from the draw at Brighton on Saturday, but the match did see the return of Rice in the starting line-up, while Noble was also on the bench.
Said Benrahma struck the equaliser off the bench and he will now be rivalling the likes of Bowen and Pablo Fornals for a start on Wednesday, while Andriy Yarmolenko was an unused substitute against the Seagulls.
There are now plenty of options in the midfield and attacking areas, but someone with the ingenuity of Lanzini is always a welcome option and Moyes will be ruing his expected absence as the Irons bid to ensure European football comes to the London Stadium next season.
In other West Ham news, ‘He’s got everything’ – Sky Sports pundits hail Irons ‘Revelation’ in clash v Brighton.
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