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Exclusive: The return of Lanzini

 

 

CandH Exclusive by Hugh Southon

 

Manu Lanzini will rejoin the Hammers squad next week after training alone for the past three months.

The brilliant midfielder is recovered from a devastating injury received in World Cup training with Argentine and according to a top insider talking to CandH by telephone is close to a return.

The 25 year old was at one time believed to have been ruled out until next season but the latest information passed to us is that he will be involved in ‘contact’ training for the first time this season next week.

And assuming there are no further setbacks it’s reasonable to expect him to return to match day squad duty by next month.

Our source told us: “He has done so well and shown himself the ultimate dedicated professional. He has got on with it alone for so long and is close. The expectation is he will be rejoining squad  training next week.

“All things being equal we will see him back in March which will be a tremendous boost for everybody involved in the club.”

 

About Hugh5outhon1895

Hugh Southon is a lifelong Iron and the founding editor of ClaretandHugh. He is a national newspaper journalist of many years experience and was Bobby Moore's 'ghost' writer during the great man's lifetime. He describes ClaretandHugh as "the Hammers daily newspaper!" Follow on Twitter @hughsouthon

3 comments on “Exclusive: The return of Lanzini

  1. Can’t wait ⚽️

  2. It’s good news but it will be 2 months until he is mach fit and we need something now… I still can’t believe they didn’t strengthen the squad it’s not like these long term injuries is new news …..at least it I s something positive for a change

    • Looking forward to having him back – he’s great and seems to want to play for us, which is a bit of a bonus these days, it seems … Two points on this:

      Firstly, for me, the number of injuries the squad is suffering is just plain unfortunate and surely can’t be blamed on training methods or facilities. Most of the squad have been injured out on the pitch in matches in plain sight – Lanzini was on international duty after all. One of his replacements, Nasri, got a kick in a match. I can’t believe our preventative strength and conditioning and then rehab methods are so poor compared to other Premiership clubs. No club would ignore investing to keep their playing assets available as much as possible. Lanzini is rehabbing quick than expected, so the medical team must be doing something right. Maybe I’m wrong on this – it’s certainly true we have a lot of injuries year on year.

      Secondly, on replacements. The club did buy 2 replacements for Lanzini – Wilshere and Nasri. Whether they bought the RIGHT replacements, is open to debate. Nasri looks good, but Wilshere … well, is Wilshere and while a talented player, is just one of those injury-prone ‘assets’. He and AC must keep a couple of physios in employment on their own. The point’s been made that it wasn’t worth spending a lot in January on replacements if we weren’t getting good value as we haven’t got a lot realistically to play for. I can see that logic. But the current performances aren’t ones that the club’s greatest assets – who are the FANS – should have to accept without comment. None of the players that we were linked with, except for Gomez, looked worth shelling out for. And Gomez was expensive for a club like us. Without moving out some of those currently earning money by deception, the funds are not likely to be there. Our squad is thin. Just look at how many expensive midfielders Liverpool have on their books. For example, Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain’s been injured all season. I’d forgotten about him. Lallana’s also been out for ages over the last 12 months. If we were able to spend what they did on ‘squad players’ like them we’d be a ‘big club’, let alone a ‘big team’. We have to be realistic – and hope the injuries stay away.

      So if (a) we’re realistically not challenging for a trophy but should be safe from relegation, (b) have a lot of injuries, and (c) we’re getting truly unacceptable performances from some of the first teamers, what’s my solution? It’s not to keep playing the same players. Wolves was just plain disappointing. I think we should try some more of the u23’s. Not a radical solution, I know, but what’s the point in having them without giving them a chance? They can’t be worse than Masuaku, Obiang or Hernandez, can they? AC looks like he’s running in treacle and he can’t even get off the ground these days, unfortunately. Last season when available, he won most aerial battles. Not the same at the moment – looks like the injuries have done for him. So put Silva in. Give them a chance. Surrounded by some of the first teamers who look like they DO care, the u23’s may surprise us … and MP. Phew! Rant over. COYI.

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