West Ham Desperate to Tie Lanzini Down to New Contract as Liverpool Scope Replacement for Coutinho
West Ham United will be desperate for Manuel Lanzini to sign a new contract at the club as Liverpool scope a potential replacement for FC Barcelona target Philippe Coutinho.
With the Catalans preparing for life without Brazilian poster-boy Neymar, La Liga giants Barca are running through the possible options to fill the void left by the Paris Saint-Germain bound winger, and Coutinho has supposedly been placed at the top of the list - according to a report published by The Sun.
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The Merseysiders have subsequently been put on red alert as they brace themselves to fend off Barca from nabbing their Brazilian play-maker, and if Coutinho is indeed to leave for the Camp Nou, Liverpool may swoop for the Hammers' South American Lanzini as his respective replacement.
Lanzini, 24, currently pockets £30k-a-week at his current employers, and talks have allegedly taken place in order to renew his deal at the club, with a figure of £50k-a-week being fluttered to maintain his services.
Although it appears that the Irons may have to reach closer to £85k-a-week if they're to dismiss Liverpool's advances for the Argentine - with Javier Hernandez and Marko Arnautovic both recently breaking the £100k-a-week barrier it's surely not a prospect they're reluctant to granting.
But, unlike Michail Antonio and Pedro Obiang, Lanzini is still yet to agree upon new terms at the London Stadium, so a move to Anfield may not necessarily be off the cards.
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After signing for West Ham in early 2016 on a permanent basis, Lazini has become a key player in Slaven Bilic's squad and still has 3-years left on his contract.
The east Londoners will certainly want to do everything within their power to keep Jurgen Klopp and co. at bay, but if they're to succeed they'll seemingly have to break the bank once again this summer as they build for the future without having their star performers poached by rivals.
