Manuel Lanzini has returned to West Ham United’s Rush Green training base to step up his rehabilitation following successful knee surgery.
The No10 was operated on by renowned Spanish orthopaedic surgeon Dr Ramon Cugat in Barcelona in June after being injured while in training with Argentina ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals.
Lanzini remained in the Spanish city for the next three months, working with Dr Cugat and his team on a daily basis in consultation with West Ham’s own head of medical Richard Collinge, who explained that the 25-year-old has now returned to London to continue with his treatment.
Rehab-wise, we have a plan in place and Manu is very disciplined and very motivated and we’re moving in the right direction
Head of medical Richard Collinge
“We’re really pleased for Manu and it’s great to have him back,” said Collinge. “He’s now at the three-month stage, so I flew out to see Manu and his consultant Dr Cugat at the weekend and the doctor is very happy with his progress after three months.
“Rehab-wise, we have a plan in place and Manu is very disciplined and very motivated and we’re moving in the right direction.”
Collinge continued by explaining the type of work Lanzini is now doing at Rush Green.
“There’s a certain amount of bed-based work that we’re doing, so we mobilise the knee every day and do soft-tissue work, then we step into the gym and do some activation work.
“He’s been working on the spin bike and doing some balance work – what we call proprioception, which is working on the reactions of the knee, effectively – and then he’s doing some strength work for the whole lower-limb chain, so the quadriceps and hamstrings, in particular, around the knee injury, we want to ensure they are firing off nice and strong, so he’s a busy boy.”
While some players would allow the disappointment of missing out on the opportunity to appear at their first World Cup finals to get them down, Collinge said Lanzini has approached his rehabilitation with a positive frame of mind.
“I think there is always that initial phase with any injury where the player struggles psychologically and that’s our methodology as a medical team, to make sure that we support a player psychologically as well as physically.
“Manu has been incredibly positive from day one really and, three months down the line, he’s got a target in mind and we’re working towards that, so he’s remained really positive throughout.
“We want to make sure we give him every opportunity to get back as quickly and as safely as possible, so we have certain benchmarks and data levels we need to look at that Manu can surpass to make sure he’s fit and available for Mr Pellegrini.
“We’re working along those lines at the minute and the staff are putting in the hours, as is Manu, to make sure we do that as effectively as possible.”
There was also positive news from Collinge regarding Andy Carroll, Winston Reid and Sam Byram, who are recovering from ankle and knee surgeries respectively.
“Andy Carroll is progressing really nicely and he’s going to start doing some work on the pitches this week, so he’s making really good progress.
“Winston Reid is in a knee brace and he’s eight weeks down the line from his surgery and making good progress. He’s going to be a little bit longer, but he’s also making good progress.
“Sam Byram had surgery this week after his incident while on loan at Nottingham Forest which went to the surgeon’s liking and, other than that, we’ll always carry a few knocks and niggles.
“We’ll make sure we put them out in the best physical condition for the kick-off this Sunday at Everton.”