Jurgen Klopp’s Reds have been given a major transfer boost in terms of signing West Ham attacker Manuel Lanzini in the summer transfer window. Having lost midfield ace Philippe Coutinho in the last winter transfer window, Liverpool has a bit of a void in their attack that they need to fill up.
Liverpool has been looking in the market to bolster their attacking prowess even further despite having the likes of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane up top. Klopp still believes that his forward players need someone who can provide them with more chances to score goals and has identified Lanzini as the man for the role.
Lanzini has been instrumental for the Hammers since his arrival from UAE club Al-Jazira back in 2015. The Argentine arrived on loan initially but then West Ham secured a permanent deal for the attacking midfielder the following year as he heavily impressed the Londoners for a fee of just £10m. At 25 years of a, e Lanzini has his best years ahead of him and is considered to be one of the finest players outside the top six clubs in the Premier League.
And despite West Ham struggling in the League, Lanzini has been the bright light for David Moyes’ men this season. After letting go of Slaven Bilic earlier this term, West Ham has been better off and in 14th place away from the drop-zone. In 21 appearances this season, Lanzini has scored three goals and notched up eight assists before an injury forced him out of action for a few games.
The Merseyside club were keen on signing Lanzini last summer although a deal went sour with the West Ham unwilling to let go of their prized assed. But Liverpool have been handed a small transfer boost in terms of securing a deal for Lanzini in the summer transfer window as Hammers’ manager David Moyes stated that no player will be rewarded with a new deal unless Premier League football is guaranteed.
Lanzini’s current contract expires in 2020, and even though West Ham is desperate to tie down the Argentine for another few years by offering him a new improved deal, the former Manchester United boss has stated that,”You always want to keep your best players but there’s no truth in that yet. We won’t look at that [extending Lanzini’s contract] until we know what league we are in.”
Klopp has a small contract issue with his own German midfielder Emre Can, and Lanzini could be a massive improvement over the 24 year old dynamic midfielder. Liverpool will be looking to take advantage of this situation between club and player to jeopardize a new contract for Lanzini.
Although Lanzini is not yet on the same level as former Reds’ play-maker Philippe Coutinho, he too is a South-American who is blessed with immense skill on the ball.
He can make those intelligent passes in the final third to create goal-scoring opportunities and Klopp’s strikers could be scarily scoring more goals than they currently are at the moment.
