Gianluca Scamacca could swap the Premier League for Serie A during the summer transfer window with Salernitana’s president hailing the ‘fantastic’ West Ham United striker.
The hope was that Gianluca Scamacca, a £30 million signing from Sassuolo, would spell the end of West Ham’s so-called ‘striker curse’.
Instead, with just three goals in 16 appearances during an injury-hit spell at the London Stadium, the signs suggest that claret-and-blue supporters will soon be referring to the Italy international in the same breath as Sebastien Haller, Modibo Maiga, Simone Zaza and co.
Sassuolo CEO Giovanni Carnevali admits he ‘wouldn’t be surprised’ to see Scamacca return to Serie A before September’s transfer deadline. Long-time admirers Juventus and AC Milan are reportedly watching his situation closely.
There may also be a place for a physical goal-poacher at Inter too, with Romelu Lukaku’s loan spell coming to an end in the coming weeks.
Is Gianluca Scamacca leaving West Ham already?
An ambitious Salernitana outfit are not ruling out an approach of their own, meanwhile, even if president Danilo Iervolino insists that there are no active talks between his side and West Ham’s seldom-seen number seven.
“I still have to talk to (sporting director Morgan) De Sanctis and (head coach Paulo) Sousa. I have great respect for the player, he’s fantastic,” Iervolino tells DAZN.
“But, for now, there is nothing.”
15th in the table and eight points clear of the bottom three; Salernitana need only one more point to secure their Serie A place for 2023/24.
West Ham boss David Moyes, meanwhile, insists that Scamacca must improve his ‘physical data’ if he is to succeed in England; Michail Antonio’s relentless work-ethic and outstanding link play meaning he remains the Scot’s number one centre-forward despite a summer of heavy spending.
“We know that his physical data has got to be much better than it is,” Moyes said in March.
“Gianluca has got to get himself back. I think his application is there. We just want the output to be bigger and more. That’s one of things we are looking for.
“The general part of his play, his hold-up play, we like him for it. He’s really, really good at it, and we’ve not seen it as much in the work we’ve been doing.”
In Scamaca’s defence, however, he is a striker who relies on service. And, with the likes of Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen and Aaron Cresswell not quite performing as they should be, genuine goalscoring chances have been in short supply for the most part.
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