Manuel Lanzini surely heads for West Ham United exit after David Moyes makes honest admission
Manuel Lanzini has only a few months left on his current contract at West Ham United and he doesn’t appear to have any future at the London club.
The 29-year-old has really struggled for games this season. After impressing heavily last season, it has come as a big surprise that he has managed only one Premier League start thus far.
The Athletic journalist, Roshane Thomas hailed him as “outstanding” [The Atheltic, 7 January 2022], adding that Lanzini looked like a player reborn.
The versatile attacking midfielder made 45 appearances last season, scoring seven goals. However, this season, it has been a different story.
Lanzini has started all eight matches in this season’s Europa Conference League, but he has managed only 122 minutes of action in the Premier League.
David Moyes has made an honest admission that he couldn’t give him enough game time. The tweak in the system and the arrivals of Lucas Paqueta and Flynn Downes have led to Lanzini missing out on his chances.
“He’s not played. I would love to say he’s had more minutes,” Moyes told football.london.
“We really like Manu. It’s just the way things have gone, I’ve not been able to introduce him at times in games.
“Pablo Fornals has been training really well and helping. We’ve just slightly changed the position of (Lucas) Paqueta which has altered things a little bit. I’ve got Flynn Downes who I’m trying to give minutes to. These are the problems that managers have.”
The fact that he has been fit all season, but only managed substitute appearances in just two of the Hammers’ last 19 league games. It shows that he is gradually drifting away from Moyes’s plans, and could only be restricted to cup games only.
The emergence of Downes is interesting here. Unfortunately, Moyes has not been able to give enough game time to Downes as well this season. With his contract expiring, it looks like there’s a slim chance of him penning a new deal at the club.
Lanzini has been at the club for eight seasons now and has made over 215 appearances. But his time at the club appears to be coming to an end.