Boca Juniors striker Mateo Retegui has responded to talk of a move to West Ham and confirmed he is taking English lessons.
Striker Mateo Retegui recently replaced Gianluca Scamacca in the Italy side and has also been linked with a move to replace him at West Ham too.
Scamacca was relegated to the bench by Argentinian forward Retegui – who only qualifies for the Azzurri through the “Irish granny” rule – for games against England and Malta.
Retegui is owned by Boca Juniors but plays his football on loan to Mexican side Tigre. But he started ahead of Scamacca in both games.
And to rub salt in the wound Retegui scored in both matches as West Ham’s forward watched on from the bench, getting just 30 minutes on the pitch over the two games.
Manager Roberto Mancini said he now sees Retegui as the main man up front after comparing him with legendary striker Gabriel Batistuta.
With the future of both Scamacca and Michail Antonio uncertain beyond this summer, it is no surprise to see West Ham already being linked with interest in a number of forwards.
And Retegui is one of them.
A report last week claimed West Ham are among the clubs who have opened preliminary talks with the Argentina-born forward.
The Hammers were named favourites to sign him over interested Serie A clubs due to the vastly superior spending power in the Premier League.
Sitio Andino then also claimed West Ham have made an enquiry for the 23-year-old Italy international.
Now Boca Juniors striker Retegui has responds to the West Ham move talk and confirmed he is taking English lessons.
Speaking in an interview with Gazetta dello Sport, Retegui says he will be moving to Europe in July and confirmed he is taking England and Italian lessons as the likes of West Ham and Inter Milan circle.
Boca Juniors striker Mateo Retegui responds to West Ham move talk and confirms English lessons
“I will play in Europe from July,” Retegui confirms in the interview.
“I would like to sign for a Serie A club. I’m already learning Italian and English…
“I don’t know anything (about which club), my father and Tigre are taking care of that.”
Boca are said to be open to a loan with an option or obligation to buy deal for Retegui.
While that has often been West Ham’s preferred way to do business over the years, it would likely give Italian clubs like Inter Milan the edge.
Before West Ham can even think about signing players, the club must first get the points on the board to remain in the Premier League.
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