With the January transfer window now only three weeks away, it has not taken long for reports linking West Ham United with a potential winter move for one specific Serie A forward to be tossed aside.
Hammers News have been told that Nuno Espirito Santo wants a striker signed next month.
Nuno is keen on a reunion with Fulham’s Adama Traore, too, with West Ham United also in the market for wingers. An attacker flexible and talented enough to perform both roles, then, would potentially be like signing two players rolled into one.
Unfortunately for the Hammers, Tijjani Noslin’s adaptability is also something Maurizio Sarri admires, even if a lack of recent game time may suggest otherwise.
The Londoners were linked with a move for Lazio’s Amsterdam-born forward by Il Messaggero at the beginning of November.
Now though, former Chelsea, Napoli and Juventus coach Sarri is scrunching up and throwing such reports directly into the same rubbish bin which now houses his countless collection of cigarette butts and half-chewed tabs.
Maurizio Sarri wants West Ham United-linked Tijjani Noslin to stay at Lazio
Lazio signed Noslin from Serie A rivals Hellas Verona for a reported £14 million back in 2024.
According to Corriere dello Sport, they also tied the 26-year-old down with an eye-watering £60 million release clause. Considering that he has only scored seven goals in 48 Biancocelesti appearances since then, there was never really any reason to suggest that clause was going to be triggered. Certainly not by a West Ham side who may again need to sell before they can buy.
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Furthermore, Noslin has not started a single Serie A match all season. Veteran tactician Sarri has handed him just 106 minutes of league action.
Although speaking to Tuttomercatoweb, the chain-smoking sexagenarian insists that Noslin could still have a role to play, particularly because he can moonlight as a striker if required.
“I’m not thinking of him being sold. We haven’t discussed it,” Sarri says, Noslin’s speed in transition likely to come in handy against better opposition. “In these games [such as the 1-0 Coppa Italia victory over AC Milan], we need a player who can play as a centre-forward. In more tight games, he’d struggle more.
“I have the feeling he can help us.”
Goalkeeper Christos Mandas reacts to Hammers links
Noslin, who started out in the Eredivisie and was briefly linked with Manchester United last year, is not the only Lazio player reportedly on West Ham’s radar.
West Ham enquired about goalkeeper Christos Mandas too, according to La Lazio Siamo Noi. And as Mads Hermansen draws interest from Lazio, the prospect of a rare goalkeeper swap cannot be entirely discounted.
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Though Mandas insists he has not talked to the Lazio bosses about a winter move at this stage.
“I haven’t spoken to the club,” said the 24-year-old Greek international. “I’m focused on my work and waiting for my moment. That’s the only way I can improve.
“But I haven’t spoken to anyone. I don’t want to cause problems in this great atmosphere.”
A spokesman for the club’s board, meanwhile, admits that West Ham are not exactly ‘confident’ of strengthening their squad to meet Nuno’s expectations early in the New Year.
Nuno at least has the Hammers heading in the right direction now, even if they are still stuck in the relegation zone.
“I would say we are hopeful rather than confident of making early signings in the January window,” the spokesman said this week.
“[But] it is just one defeat in the last six league games and nine points, which is encouraging.
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