Italy boss Roberto Mancini pleads for patience over Gianluca Scamacca and tells West Ham fans when it will click

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Italy boss Roberto Mancini pleads for patience over striker Gianluca Scamacca and tells West Ham fans when it will click.

When West Ham spent £170m on eight new players in the summer it is fair to say the £35m splashed on Scamacca captured the imagination more than most.

David Moyes ended West Ham’s 18-month search for a new striker by bringing the Italian in from Sassuolo amid competition from the likes of PSG.

But West Ham fans may have to wait another four or five months until they see their new man at his best.

That’s according to Scamacca’s national team manager Roberto Mancini.

When Scamacca signed for the Hammers he revealed he had spoken to Mancini who gave the move a ringing endorsement, saying West Ham and the Premier League were “perfect” for him.

It has been a slow burn for Scamacca at West Ham in terms of the Premier League so far, though.

Despite three goals in four Europa Conference League games – including an absolute humdinger in the 3-2 win at Silkeborg last Thursday night – Moyes is electing to drip-feed the forward into the rough and tumble of the Premier League.

That has frustrated many West Ham fans. And judging by his substitute appearance against Everton, where he got involved in several clashes, Scamacca is frustrated too.

Now Italy boss Mancini has pleaded for patience over Scamacca and tells West Ham fans when it will click.

“Hopefully, we’ll soon see two or three strikers who can be the national team’s future. It’s not a small problem,” Mancini said in his Italy press conference after selecting eight forwards in his Nations League squad ahead of a clash with England on Friday.

“We’ll play against a strong team physically (England).

“Scamacca joined a difficult league and it will take some time to understand English football. He will take four or five months to settle in, but time is by his side.”

West Ham fans have watched other managers chuck new signings – many of them strikers – straight into the action in the Premier League with great success.

Many feel Moyes should be doing that and then taking Scamacca out if and when he tires as the season goes on.

But if Mancini is even saying that patience is the key for West Ham’s new boy to shine then perhaps we won’t start to see the best of him until the second half of the campaign, post World Cup.

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