Manuel Lanzini

Manuel Lanzini (born 15 February 1993) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Argentine Primera División club River Plate.

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.

Lanzini stood out in indoor soccer football divisions, demonstrating his skills in the Club Academia Kaly de Ituzaingó class of 1993, a neighbourhood club.

Ramón Maddoni, who has discovered players like Juan Román Riquelme, Carlos Tevez and Esteban Cambiasso, wanted to take him to Boca Juniors for a test match but the young Lanzini declined the call, stating that he only aimed to play for the club he supported: Club Atlético River Plate.

Eventually, in 2002, he was taken to River Plate.

He began training and started as a playmaker in junior divisions before, after several tests, Pedro Vega, ex-player and coach of inferior club divisions, ordered for him to be hired.

In 2008, the eighth division team in which he played won its divisional trophy; Lanzini ultimately scored nine goals, only two fewer than fellow attacker Leonardo Salguero with 11 goals.

On 2 November 2008, River Plate won the junior division's Superclásico 3–0 to Boca Juniors with Lanzini scoring two goals and assisting Salguero in one other.

In 2010, Ángel Cappa, River Plate's first team coach, included Lanzini in the team for the winter preseason, disputing several matches in Salta Province.

Lanzini made his informal debut in a friendly match against Central Norte, a 3–0 victory, coming on as a second-half substitute for Ariel Ortega.

Lanzini then played another friendly match against Juventud Antoniana, where his performance earned good reception from press and fans alike.

Lanzini's performance in the 2010 winter preseason satisfied his coach.

Finally, he made his first appearance on 8 August 2010, against Tigre for the first match of the 2010 Torneo Apertura.

River Plate won 1–0 while Lanzini was replaced at half time by Facundo Affranchino.

Lanzini's appearance made him one of the youngest players to debut in the First Division for River Plate, being 17 years, 5 months and 24 days old, older only than Daniel Villalva, Adolfo Pedernera and ex-Barcelona and Real Madrid player Javier Saviola.

After his debut, Cappa excluded him in the match against Huracán, but he replaced the suspended Ariel Ortega in the next game against Independiente where he assisted Rogelio Funes Mori's goal for the 3–2 victory.

In a match against Vélez Sársfield on 5 September, Lanzini suffered an injury after a tackle from Leandro Somoza, which ruled him out for three weeks.

On 19 July 2011, River Plate agreed to loan Lanzini to Fluminense for a fee of US$400,000, with a transfer option of $15,000,000.

Lanzini made his debut in the Brasileirao 2011 for the 3–0 victory against Figueirense.

He would then score his first official goal in the team's 20th game of the tournament, a 2–1 victory against São Paulo.

His performances and character led to the club's president labelling him "the new Neymar".

His most important goal for the club was against Flamengo in the Río de Janeiro Fla-Flu derby.

Despite Lanzini's good performances, Fluminense was unable to retain him and he returned to River Plate after the loan expired.

He made his comeback to the first team on the 12th match of the season.

Lanzini returned on 30 June 2012.

He started for the team's first appearance in the tournament, scoring their only goal in the 1–2 loss against Belgrano de Córdoba.

For his comeback, he asked his coach Matías Almeyda if he could use the club's iconic number 10 shirt, which Almeyda approved.

However, during Almeyda's term Lanzini was unable to assure himself a place on the pitch, sometimes watching the matches from the bench.

Almeyda was fired and the club's most successful coach to that date, ex-Inter Milan player Ramón Díaz, was appointed as team manager.

With him, Lanzini's chance of regaining a place as a starter increased.

Diaz made Lanzini a starter in the team's 2–0 victory against San Martín (SJ), where he scored one goal.

He was then considered a regular starter for the team.

During the 12th match of the Torneo Final 2013 tournament, he scored his first goal in the Superclásico, one of the most heated football rivalries in the world, in the 1–1 draw against Boca Juniors; this goal, as of 2018, stands out as the fastest goal in the derby's history (43 seconds).

In 2014 He signed for Al Jazira in the UAE before being signed by West Ham on loan in 2015.

Lanzini made his international debut for Argentina in 2017.

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.

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").