Manuel Lanzini has eased fears he could leave West Ham in the summer after reiterating his happiness at the club.
The 24-year-old was named West Ham’s Players’ Player of the Year at the club’s end of season awards ceremony but had been linked with a move to rivals Tottenham earlier this month.
Lanzini scored the goal that effectively ended Tottenham’s title challenge at the start of May and West Ham reportedly put a £30m price tag on his head in a bid to ward off interest from their Premier League rivals.
However, Slaven Bilic’s side have been given a boost in their attempts to keep the Argentine after he revealed he is already thinking about next season with the club.
“The season was good for me on a personal level,” he told the club’s official website, via the London Evening Standard. “At the beginning it was not great [he suffered a knee injury in pre-season], but then I could achieve a good level.
“Dimi is a great player. He left and it was not a good news for the squad but luckily at the end I had a very good season. [With the win over Tottenham], we achieved the points to stay in Premier League, which was the most important thing.
“We did not have a good start to the season, but now we need to think in the next game the next season.”
Lanzini’s performances have been one of very few positives for West Ham this season and he has only endeared himself to supporters further from his performances in London derbies. In fact, nine of the 14 Premier League goals in his career have been scored in matches against London opposition.
Not only that, but only Eden Hazard (17) has won possession in the attacking third more times in 2017 in the Premier League than Lanzini (16).
For more stats on Manuel Lanzini, click here to visit his WhoScored player page