‘Big unit of a player’… 6ft 7″ Peter Crouch blown away by size of star who West Ham sold

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Former West Ham United forward Peter Crouch claims the club made a big mistake over the decision to sell one key player a couple of years ago.

Things look set to be different for West Ham United this summer with David Moyes departing the London Stadium and former Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Julen Lopotegui set to take the roll in East London.

Over the years, West Ham have sold some star players for big money including Declan Rice, who departed the Hammers last summer in a £100 million move to Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.

However, some players, who have struggled at West Ham and later sold, go on to have brilliant careers and former Hammers forward Peter Crouch believes they made a mistake with one key attacker.

Crouch names West Ham error

Speaking on TNT Sport’s coverage of the UEFA Europa League final between Bayer Leverkusen and Atalanta, Crouch believes that Atalanta forward Gianluca Scamacca should have remained in the Premier League.

Crouch explained: “West Ham fans you know, they must be thinking ‘we was crying out for a forward like that’,” Crouch said.

“He’s got it’s got everything the only thing that didn’t have at West Ham was the confidence.”

Crouch, who stands at a gigantic 6ft 7″ tall admits even he was blown away by the size of Scamacca when he saw him in person when covering the semi-final against Liverpool.

“I didn’t realise until I was at Anfield how big he was. He’s a big unit of a player, he’s got soft feet. He leads the line well, he’s strong and you know, the number of goals he’s getting is first class now.”

Michail Antonio led the line for the Hammers during the final day of the season defeat to Manchester City and the forward has netted six times in the Premier League this campaign.

Scamacca’s superb season

As for Italian forward Scamacca, who joined West Ham back in 2022 before the striker departed for a move back to Serie A, he has netted 11 times and provided six assists. As well as this, the forward has netted six goals in the Europa League for the Bergamo side.

Scamacca’s one season in the Premier League was certainly not a successful one as he netted just three goals in 11 starts for the Hammers.

Having a striker who Jarrod Bowen, in particular, could play off would be vital for the club as they hope to build yet again and finish in the European places.