Manu Lanzini is sticking by an extraordinary January deadline  for his return to the West Ham first team.

His devastating knee injury is healing and the midfielder is back at Rush Green ready to defy the medics and medical science in general.

For the diagnosis he was given at the outset was that April return would be his return – something that he is not and never has been ready to accept,

The player has spoken this week of his delight at being back with the lads and revealed that the key to everything was that his knee remains stable adding that he was “feeling good.”

What he didn’t say was that he is still aiming at a January return which really would be entirely extraordinary.

A source told us: “He believes he can make it back by January but medical science says it will be April – Manu being Manu he could be right!”