[ad_pod ]

Manuel Lanzini has been sidelined for the entirety of the season so far, depriving Manuel Pellegrini of an incredibly talented playmaker in the process.

West Ham have plenty of quality players within the squad but the presence of a fully fit central attacking midfielder continues to elude them.

Samir Nasri's January arrival was presumably made with that problem in mind, but he has suffered from a calf injury of late.

However, according to quotes from Manuel Pellegrini last week, Lanzini could be in line to return to the squad to face Fulham on February 23rd.

The Chilean's admission has already got supporters eagerly anticipating his return, and they took to Twitter on his birthday on Friday to heap praise on the 26-year-old midfielder.

Indeed, plenty of fans believe that he has been a huge miss this season, and the prospect of seeing him link up with the likes of Felipe Anderson and Marko Arnautovic is naturally evoking huge reason for them to feel optimistic for the future.

After such an extended period of time on the sideline there's no doubt it will take the Argentine a few weeks if not months to reach top form, but once he's back in full flow Pellegrini will have an exciting set of midfield options at his disposal.

Here's what the Hammers' faithful have had to say about Lanzini's return: