West Ham have a man in their ranks equal to the third most expensive player of all time, according to former Republic of Ireland international Robbie Keane.
Manuel Lanzini has been heralded as technically as good a player as new Aston Villa man Philippe Coutinho by Keane, who hailed some of the Argentine's goals as 'incredible'.
Lanzini had a quiet match, along with many of his colleagues, against Leeds United but has been in sparkling form of late with three goals in his last four matches, including a stunning strike against Crystal Palace.
Keane compared Lanzini to former Inter Milan, Liverpool and Bayern Munich star Coutinho ahead of West Ham's clash with Leeds on Sunday afternoon.
"Lanzini, he kind of reminds me of Coutinho in the way he plays in terms of technique and low centre of gravity," Keane told Sky Sports. "Some of the goals he scores are incredible. He’s really stepped up. He’s got unbelievable technique. When I say Coutinho, I mean quick feet and very, very sharp."
Coutinho scored on his Villa debut to rescue a 2-2 draw against Manchester United, after making a loan move to Steven Gerrard's team from Barcelona for the remainder of the season.
The Brazilian remains one of the world's most expensive footballers fours years after his £146million move from Liverpool to the Catalan giants, but after a disappointing spell is back in the Premier League once more.
Lanzini, on the other hand, cost West Ham a fee of around £9m when he joined the club permanently in 2016. Since signing for the Hammers, Lanzini has won five caps for Argentina and following his return to the team is on the verge of adding to that number.
David Moyes revealed last week that Lanzini has been named in the provisional Argentina squad for this month's FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Lanzini will find out later this week if he has made the final cut.
