01 April 2022

West Ham midfielder Manuel Lanzini ‘sore but OK’ after car crash

01 April 2022

West Ham midfielder Manuel Lanzini is “sore but OK” following the car crash he was involved in on Thursday.

The 29-year-old was on his way to the Premier League club’s training ground in Rush Green, east London, when the car he was travelling in skidded off the A12 and into a ditch at around 2pm.

Argentina international Lanzini, who was being driven by a chauffeur, was assessed by medics and suffered no serious injuries.

Hammers manager David Moyes said: “I can’t tell you what happened because I wasn’t there and I’ve only got the information you’ve got.

“The car went into a ditch off the road. He’s a bit sore but he’s OK. It was terrible. For any of us.

“We don’t want to go on too much about it. It happens in all walks of life. It happened to Manuel but he’s OK, thankfully.”

Lanzini could even be passed fit for West Ham’s match at home to Everton on Sunday.

Forward Jarrod Bowen is also pushing to be involved having returned to training following an ankle injury.

Bowen sat out both legs of West Ham’s Europa League last-16 win over Sevilla and there were fears he could also miss the quarter-final against Lyon.

But Moyes revealed Bowen and right-back Vladimir Coufal, who has had a groin operation, could be fit for the weekend.

“There’s a chance that both could make it,” he added. “Both did a bit of training over the international break so a chance both can be there.

“I’m not quite sure they are match ready yet. That’s my only concern.”

The two-legged tie with Lyon, and the carrot of a potential semi-final against Barcelona, is uppermost in West Ham minds at the moment.

But they are still in the race to finish in the top six again and Moyes insisted: “We’ve to concentrate on this game first.

“We’ve got a busy schedule as well so we have to be aware of that and try to make sure we don’t overcook players. But we need to win the next game against Everton.

“I’m really excited about this period and I can sense that in the dressing room. We’ve got a lot of good things going on. We’re challenging.

“We want to stay amongst those at the top but we’ll take one game at a time. We’re looking over that horizon of what might be there as well.

“Our focus initially is we’ll see if can beat Everton at home and keep a good position in the league.”

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