Manuel Lanzini hasn’t been the same player since his unfortunate cruciate ligament rupture in June 2018 and many fans have become frustrated with his downturn in form and persistent injuries since for West Ham.
Manu Lanzini is very rarely on the scoresheet and his lack of physicality really stands out when he isn’t on top form for West Ham. He also seems reluctant to track back and help the team and he often hides in games.
He has become a ghost of the player who graced the Premier League in the 2015/16 amazing fans with his cultured technique and often important goals. It is often hard for some West Ham fans to criticize Lanzini as they remember his curler against Chelsea or his influential performance against Liverpool at Anfield but in my eyes, he needs to be replaced in the summer if West Ham is looking to push on next season.
The Argentinian is now 27 and is valued at around £20 million although West Ham may have to accept an offer closer to £15 million if they have any chance of selling him. West Ham does have Pablo Fornals who is now favored ahead of Manuel Lanzini in the center attacking midfield role but it is important that West Ham find an adequate replacement for Lanzini to provide healthy competition for Fornals and to improve their squad as a whole.
Due to the acquisition of Fornals last Summer and the fact that West Ham needs to prioritize other positions in the Summer, Gold, Sullivan, and Moyes may be reluctant to spend lots of money on an attacking midfielder so should, therefore, aim for a younger, cheaper player who has potential to be a star for West Ham in future seasons while acting as a backup next season.
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The first player the club should be looking at is 20-year-old Giorgi Chakvetadze from Gent. The young Georgian is priced at around £10 million and with Gent showing themselves to be a selling club time and time again, the Hammers shouldn’t have to pay more than £15 million.
Chakvetadze has huge potential and is seen as the future of Georgian football. He is 1,85 m tall and is a powerful runner (contrasting somewhat to Lanzini and Fornals) meaning he fits into the bracket of ‘the new CAM’ epitomized by the likes of Nicolo Zaniolo and Kai Havertz who have thrived in recent times in the attacking midfield role whilst being over six-foot and using their strength to their advantage.
Chakvetadze fits the template of the fast, powerful, modern attacking midfielder and West Ham should be looking to add him to their squad this summer. The next player the Hammers should look at to replace Lanzini is QPR’s Eberechi Eze who has taken the Championship by storm this season scoring 12 goals while assisting 8 times which is outstanding for an attacking midfielder.
The Hammers have already been linked with Eze and they could include Jordan Hugill in a deal to get Eze as Hugill has impressed on loan at Loftus Road this season. If this is the case, the Hammers could end up paying just £10 million-plus Jordan Hugill to acquire Eze.
The 21-year-old certainly has the pace to his game and his finishing is very impressive for an attacking midfielder, QPR will almost definitely be playing Championship football next season and their star man will be looking to take the step up to the Premier League and may look at the success of Jarrod Bowen when making his decision on who to join.
Finally, the last player who West Ham should be looking at to replace Lanzini with is 20-year-old Cristian Ferreira of Riverplate. Like the other two, Ferreira has a lot of potentials, but he differs in that he can also play in a deeper role. This signing would, therefore, kill two birds with one stone as West Ham also desperately need another Centre Midfielder.
Ferreira is a silky dribbler and maneuvers the team up the field by way of this asset, he is forever improving and has a £9.82 million buy out clause meaning West Ham can easily afford him especially with the sale of Lanzini. The Argentinian also takes a lot more shots than Lanzini and likes a shot from distance and would be a project that would be exciting to see develop.