Worrying reports have emerged from Italy about star Gianluca Scamacca just months into his West Ham career.
West Ham finally ended an 18-month search for a new striker when Moyes signed Scamacca for £35m in the summer.
Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen had done superbly to take on the goalscoring burden during two years of rapid progress for the Hammers.
But their goals have dried up and it has not been an easy start to life in the Premier League for Scamacca.
The Italian looks like he has everything needed to be a class act for West Ham. But then so too did Sebastien Haller when the club paid £45m to bring him from Eintracht Frankfurt.
As with Haller, though, supply and style has been a big issue for Scamacca so far with David Moyes being criticised for setting the team up too defensively and not playing a system that gets the best out of his new striker.
West Ham have scored just 12 goals in the Premier League this season – the joint second worst in the entire division.
A recent in-depth analysis by The Athletic showed that West Ham’s players simply aren’t passing or getting the ball to Scamacca anywhere near enough.
And that was before a dismal run of three home defeats in six days which left the Hammers one point off the relegation zone and out of the Carabao Cup.
The Athletic’s analysis and Scamacca’s struggles have some fans fearing a new Haller scenario at West Ham. The striker was sold for a loss just 18 months after becoming the club’s record £45m signing and went on to break all manner of records at Ajax.
Now worrying reports have emerged from Italy about star Scamacca just months into his West Ham career.
Italian journalist Ciro Venerato claims Serie A leaders Napoli could turn to West Ham striker Scamacca if Victor Osimhen departs in the coming months.
The likes of Liverpool and a host of others elite clubs are being linked with the powerful Nigeria star.
Osimhen is the same age as Scamacca and has scored 10 goals in 14 games for Napoli as Luciano Spalletti’s side lead the way in Serie A.
AreaNapoli have repeated the claims that Napoli will try to bring Scamacca back to Italy.
“If offers exceeding €100m (£86m) should arrive (for Osimhen), the club will evaluate the options and the different circumstances. Broja and Scamacca are two sure names among the eight forwards monitored by Napoli,” Venerato says, as per Area Napoli.
The claims should deeply concern West Ham.
Because speculation was rife in the summer that Napoli wanted to sign Scamacca from Sassuolo before West Ham paid the asking price (Sempre Inter).
Scamacca would be reunited up front with his former Sassuolo strike partner Giacomo Raspadori – who was also linked with West Ham in the summer – after he joined Napoli instead.
West Ham’s £35m man has lost his starting spot up front for Italy since moving to the London Stadium.
They say there is no smoke without fire so reports that a return to Italy could be on the cards just months into his Hammers career are a worry.