Report Claims Lionel Messi Has Backed West Ham Star for Future Barcelona Move

Lionel Messi believes that Argentina teammate Manuel Lanzini would be a perfect fit at Barcelona and has told Luis Suarez as much, according to reports from Spain.

Lanzini scored his first international goal for Argentina on Friday in a 2-0 friendly win over Italy, and has been a rare bright spark in an otherwise troubled season for his club side West Ham.

Messi missed Friday's match due to a recurrent hamstring strain and has only played nine minutes of international football alongside Lanzini, but from what he has seen on the training pitch he apparently believes that the 25-year-old has the skills to make it in La Liga.

This is according to Don Balon, who claim that Messi has already told Barcelona teammate Suarez his views on Lanzini and may advise Ernesto Valverde to make a move this summer.

Lanzini spent the 2015/16 season on loan at Upton Park from United Arab Emirates team Al-Jazira, before making his move a permanent one in the summer of 2016.

He has scored 18 goals and laid on 15 assists during his 96 appearances for the Hammers, but these statistics alone do not do justice to his abilities. On his day, he is probably one of the most talented Premier League players outside the top six.

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(You may also be interested in West Ham Fans React on Twitter to Manuel Lanzini's Latest Comments Regarding His Future)

He made his Argentina debut last June as an 81st minute substitute against Brazil, when he shared the field with Messi for the first time. His first start came just a few days later in a 6-0 demolition of Singapore.

He is still only an outside bet to be included in Jorge Sampaoli's World Cup squad, although Friday's goal will have done his prospects no harm.