Argentina star Manuel Lanzini ruled out of the World Cup after suffering a knee injury

Manuel Lanzini has been ruled out of the World Cup after suffering a serious knee injury during an Argentina training session.

The Argentinian Football Association posted an official statement on its Twitter account which stated, “In today’s morning training, Manuel Lanzini suffered the rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament of its right knee.”

Lanzini scored five goals for West Ham last season in 29 appearances and he has made three appearances for Argentina.

Argentina is all set to begin its World Cup campaign against Iceland on 16 June.  The West Ham winger was supposed to play a key role for Jorge Sampaoli’s team in the World Cup, but now his knee-injury comes as a major blow in the build-up to the tournament which is slated to kick start from 14 June in Russia.

This is the second major setback for the 2014 runners-up have suffered in their preparations. Their first-choice goalkeeper Sergio Romero was ruled out last month due to a knee injury.

Sampaoli hasn’t named a replacement yet but he is expected to announce a replacement ahead of Argentina travelling to Russia on Saturday.

Horrible news for Manuel Lanzini. pic.twitter.com/mWE3ylsuGW

— B/R Football (@brfootball) June 8, 2018

BREAKING: Manuel Lanzini ruptured his ACL in his right knee this morning and has been ruled out of the World Cup. ???

Gutted for the lad. ? pic.twitter.com/acKiEYeqcH

— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) June 8, 2018

BREAKING: Argentina have confirmed that Manuel Lanzini has ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament during training and will miss the World Cup. pic.twitter.com/lM5wvm5oas

— Indy Football (@IndyFootball) June 8, 2018