Slaven Bilic has insisted star midfielder Manuel Lanzini is happy as West Ham and will be staying with the club this season despite interest from Liverpool.
The Argentine has been heavily linked with a move to Anfield this summer, with Jurgen Klopp reportedly eyeing the midfielder as a potential replacement for Philippe Coutinho should he leave for Barcelona before the end of the month.
Despite Lanzini yet to sign a new contract with the club however, Bilic has stated the former River Plate star is going nowhere.
“I am not worried [about Lanzini leaving]. I got it from the papers, the news. That’s it.” said the Croatian speaking the club’s press conference earlier today.
“But, I said it last week when we spoke about it before Man Utd game. I speak to Manu every day and he is very happy. He really feels at home here, he feels wanted.”
Lanzini has enjoyed a successful spell with West Ham since first arriving on-loan in July of 2015, scoring 15 times in 70 appearances. He signed permanently for the Hammers in March of 2016, and has since been called up to the Argentina national team, earning two caps for his country.
“You can see it, you don’t have to talk to the player but you see he is smiling, he is happy. He broke into the Argentina team, he got a call-up for the September games so he knows that if he plays for West Ham I have a chance to improve, sign a better contract with West Ham and play for Argentina. He is very happy.
“I don’t want to set a price tag on him, I am sure he is going to stay with us.” concluded Bilic.
