Manuel Lanzini out of the World Cup and most of West Ham’s next season

In the most brutal of news for West Ham United in 2018, playmaker extraordinaire Manuel Lanzini will miss the FIFA World Cup with Argentina after tearing his ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) Friday morning.

For news purely disheartening to not just West Ham and Argentina fans worldwide, but just the entire footballing world, Lanzini’s injury came as a devastating shock to all. And it’s not surprising, when any ACL injury for a prominent sports figure is announced to the world that sadness felt throughout. But it’s even more soul crushing when it is a rising soccer player on the verge of going to his first (and maybe only) World Cup, only to have it taken away from him by cruel fate.

While Lanzini deals with the personal pain of such an unfortunate situation, new West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini and his owners David Gold and David Sullivan must immediately seek any player on the transfer market that could replace since an influential figure. And it doesn’t help matters when Pellegrini is reportedly already having tension with his new bosses.

That has to be placed to the side, as West Ham United and Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli deal with the shattering loss of Manuel Lanzini right before the start of a World Cup.