This return was not like the other tours of the country. This lap was different. This return was to join the club of his loves. This lap was to put the red band back on his chest. This lap is "The" lap. Manuel Lanzini arrived in Argentina, had his medical check-up, signed his contract and is already a River player, again.
Manu's return came in the early hours of Monday. In a private plane he arrived from Europe to Aeroparque, where the president of the club, Jorge Brito, was waiting for him, who welcomed him on the same track, once the footballer stepped on land.
From there, Lanzini went to the Rossi clinic in Belgrano, where the medical examination was carried out during the morning. He arrived at the medical center dressed in a jacket and black pants, T-shirt and white sneakers and accompanied by a relative. And he entered with a smile and a happiness that invaded the body knowing that he was already one step away from becoming a new River player. Before going through the door he signed shirts to the fans who were waiting for him there.
Manuel Lanzini, in a moment of the medical examination at the Rossi clinic. Photo: Rossi Clinic.
Lanzini left the medical facility five minutes before 12 noon. Surrounded by cameras and microphones and more fans who thanked him for his return to the club. With a radiant smile, he left a few words before getting into a black van to leave with club employees, who took him to the Monumental to sign the contract for one year, on loan and free of charge.
"I never doubted being here. For me the priority was always River. I thought it was the best thing for my career," Lanzini said outside the clinic, at an impromptu news conference with the journalistic guard who waited for him. He added: "I'm very excited, I'm really looking forward to getting started. I am very happy to be here and to wear these colors again. I come to a totally different River to the one I left and with the enthusiasm of all the fans".
At 30 years old and after eight seasons in the Premier League of England with West Ham, Lanzini could only on Wednesday be under the orders of Martin Demichelis and start training with reinforcements while the rest of his new teammates have rest, after the return of the knockout round against Inter Porto Alegre for the knockout stages of the Copa Libertadores.
And if River advances to the quarterfinals, Manu can be registered in the maximum continental tournament. On the other hand, if Micho's team were to fall by the wayside in Brazil, the calendar would play a trick on the hook. Already outside the Argentine Cup, in that case it would only have ahead of the Professional League Cup in the remainder of this 2023.
Of course, once the loan is fulfilled, in mid-2024, River and Lanzini could sit down again to talk to evaluate an eventual renewal of the loan or the purchase of a percentage of the player's pass, whose economic rights currently belong to the player himself after being released from action in England.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Manuel Lanzini (@manulanzini)
In good condition after training during the last weeks at the Marbella Football Center, Manu already wants to put first with the club's shield. His enthusiasm is total: on Instagram, in addition to the video he uploaded, he changed his profile picture for one with the River shirt and in his biography he already presented himself as a player of the club, something that in practice began to happen from this Monday.
"It is important that several from abroad arrive in Argentine football. I come at a fair age, in fullness and at a very good level, both physically and personally. I can give a lot to the team even though it is well established with Demichelis and his ideas. I will contribute everything I can to contribute the best," said Lanzini in his first statements as a River player. What he imagined so much since he left England.
See also