Born in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area in Ituzaingo to Italian ancestry, Manuel Lanzini joined River Plate at the age of nine in 2002. At 17, he made his professional debut in a 1-0 home win over Tigre on 8 August 2010, and went on to make 22 league appearances for the La Banda club in his debut season.

 

Summer 2011 saw Lanzini loaned to Brazilian giants Fluminense, where he impressed by scoring twice in 22 appearances as a teenager, helping the club to win the Serie A title. With that experience under his belt, the player returned to River, where he was handed the coveted No.10 shirt, helping the club to reach the Copa Libertadores quarter-finals and scoring a career-high eight goals in 26 league appearances in 2012/13.

 

A packed 2013/14 saw Lanzini play 41 times in all competitions for River, helping the Buenos Aires club to reach the last-eight of the Copa Sudamericana and attracting the attention of clubs all over the world. It was Al-Jazira who moved for the exciting talent, securing Lanzini’s path to Abu Dhabi, where he became the youngest foreign player to appear in the UAE Arabian Gulf League at the age of 21. Again wearing the No.10 shirt, he scored eight goals in 24 league appearances to help Al-Jazira to finish as league runners-up. At international level, the creative South American has been capped four times by Argentina at U20 level.

 

The Argentine winger, nicknamed ‘La Joya’ - The Jewel – in his homeland due to his outstanding talent, arrived at the Boleyn Ground on 22 July 2015 on loan from UAE League side Al-Jazira.

 

Lanzini made an impression in his first steps into European football on 6 August 2015 when he made a scoring debut for the Hammers UEFA Europa League tie at Astra Girugiu. Came off the bench to make his Barclays Premier League bow against Leicester City on 15 August 2015 and scored on his first league start as West Ham won 3-0 at Liverpool on 29 August.

 

Following an exceptional debut season in east London, the Hammers took up the option to sign the 23-year-old attacking midfielder from the Al-Jazira club on a permanent basis for an undisclosed fee. Since then, the diminutive midfielder has enjoyed great highs, including his sensational first season and scoring some unforgettable goals, including hi slast-gasp equaliser at Tottenham Hotspur in 2020/21 and then a superb volleyed finish at Crystal Palace the following campaign, and enduring devasting lows, including a serious knee injury that cost him a place Argentina’s FIFA World Cup finals squad in 2018, before regaining his national team spot and play a key role in West Ham’s success in his last three seasons for the Hammers.

 

Over eight seasons in Claret and Blue, Lanzini made 226 appearances in all competitions and scored 32 goals – twice winning the the Club’s Goal of the Season award, Hammer of the Year runner-up in 2016/17.

 

On 30 June 2023, Manu departed the London Stadium when his contract expired. The Jewl returned to River Plate on 2 August, signing a one-year contract, in October, Lanzini was presented with a framed shirt number 100 to celebrate him making 100 appearances for his boyhood club.