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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
Manuel Lanzini is closing in on a new contract at West Ham United, per Sky Sports.
What’s the word?
The Argentina international’s current deal, which has 12 months left to run, includes an option for the Hammers to extend it by another two years.
However, the report claims that Manuel Pellegrini’s side are determined to tie him down past 2022.
The Hammers are said to have confidence that he will put pen to paper at the London Stadium, having made a total of 112 appearances for the club, scoring 21 goals and registering 19 assists.
The jewel they need
Lanzini remains perhaps West Ham’s best attacking player.
They have the likes of Felipe Anderson and Andriy Yarmolenko to call on but the Argentine is the one who stitches it all together, the player most adept at threading the eye of the needle.
He has not played a full season in east London since 2017/18, as a cruciate ligament rupture ruled him out of almost the entirety of the most recent campaign.
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He scored five goals and provided seven assists then, however, and is a cornerstone of the project West Ham are trying to build.
Keeping him around would send a message that players are determined to see out their best years at the London Stadium; him putting pen to paper would be delightful news for the club.
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