A new claim has been made about West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca as a report emerges from Italy on some serious interest.
It is fair to say Gianluca Scamacca’s debut season at West Ham turned out to be a massive anti-climax.
So much so that last week the club president who sold Scamacca to West Ham for £35m claimed he would not be surprised to see the striker move back to Italy in the summer.
There was palpable excitement among Hammers fans when the club ended an 18-month search for a new striker by signing Scamacca from Serie A outfit Sassuolo for an initial £30m – plus £5m in potential add-ons – last summer.
There were flashes of the Italian forward’s quality and finishing power in the opening few months of the season.
But Scamacca and David Moyes’ failure to make the move work thus far has been one of the biggest disappointments of the campaign.
Illness and injury made it a debut season to forget for Scamacca at West Ham
The 6ft 5in Italian has suffered illness and injury this season as West Ham battle to avoid relegation from the Premier League.
Scamacca had found himself an unused substitute in the Premier League for the Hammers since he returned from a knee injury suffered in January.
He lost his place in the Italy starting line-up.
And Moyes publicly criticised the striker’s output in training while being forced to deny there had been a falling out between the pair or that the striker is a ‘bad apple’ when speaking before the last international break.
Scamacca has been ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery recently.
The striker, who changed agents recently, has been linked with a return to Italy this summer with a host of clubs including both Milan sides, Atalanta, Napoli and Juventus all said to be interested.
New claim made about West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca as report emerges from Italy on serious interest
West Ham have sparked into life in the last week or so. The Hammers have set up a second consecutive European semi-final. And they have taken a massive step towards survival with a distinctly more attack-minded approach.
And it has left supporters wondering how Scamacca might look in this seriously rejuvenated side.
But we may never find out if fresh talk from the forward’s homeland is to be believed.
Because a new claim has been made about West Ham striker Scamacca as a report emerges from Italy on serious interest.
West Ham fans are aware of the interest in Scamacca from the likes of Milan, Inter and Juve.
Now according to a new report from La Gazzetta dello Sport, Scamacca looks increasingly likely to join Juventus as they prepare to sell Dusan Vlahovic.
And the report states Juve are not concerned about Scamacca’s physical condition following knee surgery.
Juve unconcerned by Scamacca knee operation
It also reveals The Old Lady looked at signing Scamacca as a replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo when he left Turin.
“The market has certainly not lost its attention towards him…” the report states.
“It is no mystery that if the Serbian (Vlahovic) were to leave, Scamacca’s candidacy would be taken into consideration, regardless of the latest physical problems.
“From this point of view, his candidacy had already emerged two summers ago, when Cristiano Ronaldo hurriedly left Turin. Now, however, that the negotiation clock re-proposes the question of the centre-forward. Evidently his name – also in the thoughts of Roberto Mancini – always returns to the news.
“And he is also associated with Inter and Milan, other historical suitors of him. West Ham spent 40 million euros to get him from Sassuolo last summer. How much they will ask for now (remains to be seen).”
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