Manuel Lanzini

Manuel Lanzini (Latin American Spanish: [maˈnwel lanˈsini]; born 15 February 1993) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Argentine Primera División club Vélez Sarsfield. Lanzini started his career at River Plate, where he came through the youth system and with whom Lanzini holds the distinction of the earliest goal scored in the Superclásico derby, scoring only 43 seconds into the match., and spent time on loan at Fluminense. In 2014, he signed for Al Jazira in the UAE before being signed by West Ham on loan in 2015. He was subsequently signed permanently by the English club and was a regular until 2018, when he suffered a serious knee injury. Lanzini fought his way back to fitness and was a reliable squad player for the next 5 seasons, culminating in winning the 2023 UEFA Europa Conference League. Lanzini made his international debut for Argentina in 2017. The knee injury suffered in 2018 meant he missed the opportunity to feature at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and he has made only one subsequent appearance for the national team in 2019. He is regarded as having well-developed dribbling skills, as well as good acceleration, vision, and an ability to ghost past defenders. He has been nicknamed "La Joya" ("the jewel").