Manuel Lanzini is happy at West Ham and won't go to Liverpool to replace Philippe Coutinho, says Slaven Bilic

West Ham boss Slaven Bilic insists he has no doubts whatsoever that Manuel Lanzini may be lured away to Liverpool this summer.

Lanzini has been linked with a move to Anfield as a possible replacement for Philippe Coutinho should the Brazilian move to Barcelona, who have bid £90.9million for the playmaker.

However West Ham have been insistent that the 24-year-old, arguably their outstanding player and certainly their most important playmaker since the departure of Dimitri Payet to Marseille in January.

“I speak to Manu every day and he is very happy,” Bilic said during his pre-Southampton press conference. “He feels at home here, he feels wanted.

“You can feel it, you don't have to talk to the player but you see he is smiling, he is happy. He broke into the Argentina team, he got a call-up for the September games so he knows that if he plays for West Ham I have a chance to improve, sign a better contract with West Ham and play for Argentina. He is very happy.”

“I don't want to set a price tag on him, I am sure he is going to stay with us.

“He knows that he is wanted. As I said, the chairman and the board, when he was on loan [from UAE side Al Jazira during the 2015-16 season] we took the option even before we had to, we activated it. He was voted player’s player of the year which is a good thing and he feels wanted at the place. He likes it here.”

West Ham are keen to improve the supporting cast around Lanzini and are attempting to secure the club record signing of Sporting Lisbon midfielder William Carvalho.

Bilic is leaving responsibility for that deal to club chairman David Sullivan as he looks to prompt a revival from the West Ham side that were hammered 4-0 at Manchester United.

“We’re going to see what happens with ins and outs,” he said. “It’s becoming even more busy with other clubs but I’ve left it to the chairman. I’m concentrating only and totally on our game against Southampton.”