Premier League strugglers West Ham United reportedly made an inquiry for £20m Serie A bench-warmer Valentino Lazaro.
Valentino Lazaro was left on the bench by Inter Milan once again this weekend, 24 hours after West Ham United saw an inquiry for the out-of-favour Austrian batted away by the Serie A giants.
The Nerazzuri aced the summer transfer window. Stefano Sensi, Romelu Lukaku and Nicolo Barella and Diego Godin have made a huge impact at the San Siro with Antonio Conte’s side enjoying their best start to a league season since 1950/51.
Lazaro, therefore, has been a rare negative in a campaign full of positives for Inter. A £20 million signing from Hertha Berlin over the summer, the skilful wideman has made just two Serie A starts so far.
It is no secret that Lazaro has struggled to adapt to life under the uber-demanding Conte with the Austrian international let to really convince in a right-wing back role which was alien to him during his formative years in the Bundesliga.
FC Inter News reported on Friday that West Ham had made an approach to ask about whether Lazaro would be made available, a matter of months after moving to Italy from the German capital. Inter, however, apparently have no plans to cash in on Lazaro yet with Conte obviously believing that a player who is still just 23 years of age can make up for lost time in black and blue. It seems the feeling is mutual.
“He is the man who finally convinced me to come to Milan,” Lazaro told the Berliner Zeitung on Saturday, making it clear that he has no desire to leave just yet. “He wanted to have me and made it clear in many phone calls in advance. Antonio Conte is a world-class coach. Not only has he won several titles, but his daily work is impressive.
“I’m getting better and better. I can speak it well enough and understand almost everything. You learn it quickly.”
But Conte is unlikely to move away from his preferred wing-back system any time soon, having tasted great success with his trademark formation at Juventus, Chelsea and even with the Italian national team.
Lazaro, on paper at least, would be better suited at West Ham in a flat right-back role or perhaps further forwards in one of the three attacking positions. Then again, the chances of Lazaro swapping a Serie A title challenge for a potential relegation battle at the London Stadium look rather slim.
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