Playmaker returns to West Ham as recovery from injury ramps up

West Ham’s Manuel Lanzini was cruelly injured in training just before the World Cup. Now he has returned to the club to continue his rehab after surgery.

It was a blow to Argentina when Lanzini got injured during pre-World Cup training, and it was soon apparent that it was going to be a blow to West Ham as well. There was even talk of him potentially missing the entirety of the 2018/19 season. However the player himself took to social media to dispell that, and targeted a return after Christmas.

He has now been pictured on social media back at the club and returning to the training ground. Whilst it is encouraging to see him back in the club colours and on club grounds, people shouldn’t be getting too excited about his return. This was a very serious injury with some tricky surgery. January 2019 is still a quick turnaround.

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Treatment to match injury

Although some people like to categorise all headline injuries as the same thing, not all ACL injuries should be treated equally. I’ve played football with three people that have injured their ACL, one didn’t require surgery and was back in a few months, one had surgery and was back playing in 6 months and the other found it hard to play even after surgery and a year recovery. And by all accounts, Lanzini’s was bad.

This is also a player who has had numerous injuries before, not major, but repeated niggles. We’ve seen the danger of rushing potentially injury prone players back into the first team and I do not want to hurt the potential of a player like Lanzini. He’s a gifted player and it’s important we get him back properly, not get him back quick.

There were some reports from other sites that he wouldn’t be running until after Christmas, but I would imagine that would be the slow end of the time scale. If he’s back on the exercise bikes now, I think that by December there will be some running, even if it’s away from Rush Green and in warmer conditions.

I can’t wait to see the Argentine back in the side, but a player’s health comes first. If it means we don’t see him until March and he’s back to full strength then great. I don’t want him back for two games only to need surgery again if it rips on contact. Get will soon Manu!