Manuel Pellegrini has confirmed he wants to work with Manuel Lanzini for many years to come at West Ham.
The Hammers had held off a potential new deal for the Argentine after he suffered a cruciate injury in 2018, but Pellegrini confirmed in his pre-match press conference as quoted by Football.London, that he hopes Lanzini will stick around.
“Yes, of course [want him to stay],” he said.
“Manu is a young player, involved and is committed to this club, he is happy here. I hope he will stay here for many more years.”
Lanzini has been reported by Football Insider to be wanting a new five-year deal worth up to £120,000-a-week, a contract that would see him become the club’s second-highest earner [Spotrac].
OPINION
Lanzini had a fantastic pre-season since after returning from injury so there is no doubting that Pellegrini will be keen to extend his stay in East London. The Argentinian international scored a number of long-range efforts and was rewarded with consecutive starts at the beginning of the Premier League season. The 26-year-old has averaged the most key passes per game with two, and also completed double the number of dribbles than the next highest player with four in the opening fortnight of games, proving his importance going forward [WhoScored]. Two good games don’t instantly prove that you deserve to become the club’s second-highest earner though, and Lanzini must continue his good start for the rest of the campaign, especially after missing the majority of last season. The playmaker only made 10 appearances, and Pellegrini will surely be wanting him to kick on and make an impact over the full 38 game calendar to justify him offering such a lucrative deal down the line.
