Like Juan Riquelme at Villarreal and Isco at Malaga, West Ham United’s Manuel Lanzini could thrive under Manuel Pellegrini.
The appointment of Manuel Pellegrini as manager will help West Ham United keep arguably their best player in Manuel Lanzini.
That was what the Mirror reported before it was confirmed that Pellegrini would indeed take over from David Moyes as the new permanent boss at the London Stadium.
The newspaper didn’t specify why Lanzini would now decide to stay put despite rumours that the Argentina international would be on his way this summer.
Yet there is a reason why Pellegrini becoming the new man in charge at the Hammers could be exactly what the 25-year-old needs to be considered among the Premier League’s best next season.
Why?
Pellegrini has held high profile positions in European football at Real Madrid and Manchester City, but it is perhaps more useful when it comes to West Ham to look at the Chilean’s work at La Liga duo Villarreal and Malaga.
The 64-year-old turned two midtable Spanish outfits into regular qualifiers in Europe, never finishing outside the top seven in his seven full years in charge at the duo (Villarreal – third, seventh, fifth, second, fifth; Malaga – fourth, sixth).
A large part of this success was the freedom Pellegrini afforded to two playmakers in Juan Riquelme and Isco. Naturally gifted, Riquelme had failed to show that consistently at Barcelona but with the Yellow Submarine the Argentine was a shining light, scoring 28 goals in 60 league appearances during his two full seasons under the manager.
Isco, meanwhile, was trusted by Pellegrini having failed to breakthrough properly at Valencia. The Spain international played 84 times in two campaigns before a transfer to the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu where the midfield ace has become a key figure for club and country.
Whether Lanzini is as good a player as the aforementioned duo is open to debate, but he is certainly in a similar mould and there is a feeling more potential can be tapped and history suggests Pellegrini could be just the man to do it.
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