Argentina confirmed on Friday that West Ham United attacking midfielder Manuel Lanzini had suffered a rupture of his ACL in training that will keep him out of the World Cup and potentially on the sidelines for around nine months.

The news will come as a huge blow to new Irons boss Manuel Pellegrini who likely would have been planning on building his team around the highly-rated 25-year-old, alongside the likes of Javier Hernandez and Marko Arnautovic.

The Chilean boss, who is reportedly eyeing a move for a £13.5m dribble king who was dominated by Cheikhou Kouyate in 2018, was already looking to strengthen in that areas give that the club has been linked with another temporary move for former loanee Joao Mario from Inter Milan – as well as Paris Saint-Germain's Javier Pastore – but now he may need two new bodies in that position.

While the aforementioned duo would certainly both fill the Lanzini-shaped void, there are also plenty of players in the Premier League that could effectively deputise for the diminutive South American next term.

Here are three English top-flight stars who could adequately replace the 25-year-old at the London Stadium…

The Stoke City attacker looks likely to leave the Potters following their relegation to the Championship last season, and there is plenty of interest in the Switzerland international given he has a release clause in his contract that means he can be snapped up for £12m, according to The Mirror.

When they had a fit and ready Manuel Lanzini they probably didn't need to look at Shaqiri, who is a similar player in many ways given how good he is on the ball, but that could now change following the cruel update about the 25-year-old.

Shaqiri is just a year older than the Argentine, and he showed with eight goals and seven assists in 36 Premier League matches for a struggling team during the 2017/18 campaign how influential he can be.

The England international's contract with Arsenal is due to expire at the end of this month, and with no real update on how talks between the club and the player are progressing, he could be available on a free transfer in just a few weeks.

Given he is understood to be a West Ham fan – or at least he was when he was growing up – if he does end leaving the Emirates he would surely love to join the Irons and link up with Manuel Pellegrini.

Like Lanzini, Wilshere is great on the ball and capable of bringing it forward and creating, and he could prove to be a bargain addition in more of an attacking midfield role in the Argentine's absence.

The former Everton midfielder really struggled to make a big impact at Chelsea in the second-half of the 2017/18 campaign following his January move from the Merseyside outfit, and he may already find himself out of favour this summer.

The 24-year-old only made four appearances having been hampered by a hamstring issue, and the return of Ruben Loftus-Cheek following a successful loan spell with Crystal Palace could push him further down the pecking order.

Nevertheless, the England international has shown in the past that he has the ability and skill to be a really influential player, and perhaps he could unleash that for West Ham in the absence of Lanzini, with a loan deal perhaps suiting both them and their London neighbours.

Do you agree, Irons fans? Let us know below.