Manuel Pellegrini will explain to the West Ham board how he wants to cope with the loss of playmaker Manuel Lanzini on June 25, according to Claret & Hugh.
The Hammers news site state that the experienced manager and the club’s director of football Mario Husillos will tell David Gold and David Sullivan how they want to address the loss of Lanzini to injury and how that will affect his £70 million budget.
Claret & Hugh report that as Lanzini’s long term situation isn’t known then Pellegrini may opt to bring in a player on loan to cover him or opt to recruit one centre-back instead of two in this window.
OPINION
The popular Hammers news outlet suggests that the pursuit of Chris Smalling, Alfie Mawson and Issa Diop are all at risk of being stopped in order for money to be spent on a new attacking midfielder, as one of them will no longer be wanted. If this is the case then it will be very disappointing as all three would be decent players to see arrive at the London Stadium this summer, especially given how bad defensively the Hammers were in their last campaign. However Lanzini will be a massive loss to the team and he will need replacing one way or another. Pellegrini’s decision will affect his transfer budget dramatically as he opts to sign a player on a permanent basis to cover Lanzini then a huge chunk of his transfer kitty will be required. Hopefully the experienced boss finds a way to avoid this scenario as there is a wonderful range of talented young players who could be available on loan. While fans may want a more proven option to arrive, there are some gems hiding in plain sight that would more than cover for Lanzini’s absence.
