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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport

Manuel Lanzini nearing first West Ham appearance of the season after returning to full training

Manuel Pellegrini could finally get to see West Ham star Manuel Lanzini in action after the midfielder returned to full training ahead of their London derby with Fulham.

The Argentine was injured while preparing for last summer's World Cup with his national side and has not featured for either the senior side or U23s since.

Lanzini joined the squad in Spain for a warm weather training camp last week which also aided the fitness of January signing Samir Nasri, who could feature against Claudio Ranieri's side having missed the last month through injury.

"They worked not only today but they worked the complete week," Pellegrini said of the two midfielders. "We will talk to the medical staff about whether we can use them."

"All four playmakers in our squad were injured, which is always difficult, so the return of both of them injects more quality into the squad."

On being able to work with Lanzini, Pellegrini added: "He is coming back from a long injury so we will decide the best way for him to return to the team. He is a player who gives you different things, he is very fast and a very technical player.

"Last season Marko Arnautovic had a good season and a lot of that was down to Manuel providing him with good passes and good assists."

Former Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere will again be assessed next week as he continues to battle a season-long ankle problem and it remains unclear whether or not he will feature again this term.

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