David Moyes has told the Evening Standard that Gianluca Scamacca will give West Ham United a ‘different’ option and that he nearly signed the forward from Sassuolo in January.
The Hammers have moved to improve their attacking options with Scamacca this summer in a £30.5m transfer. He also agreed to a five-year contract at the London Stadium with an option for a sixth, after ending the last Serie A campaign as the division’s sixth top-scorer.
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Scamacca struck 16 goals over his 36 Italian top-flight appearances for Sassuolo, starting in just 25. Only Ciro Immobile (27), Dusan Vlahovic (24), Lautaro Martinez (21), plus Giovanni Simeone and Tammy Abraham (17) outscored the 23-year-old Rome-born star last season.
Moyes will now be able to call on Scamacca to rival Michail Antonio for starting honours at West Ham. Jarrod Bowen also remains a versatile threat in east London, having ended the last Premier League campaign as the Irons’ top-scorer with 12 goals ahead of Antonio’s 10.
Only Bowen and Antonio achieved double-digit hauls for the Hammers, as they ended the term in seventh place. But Moyes believes Scamacca will now offer West Ham more than a goal threat, as the seven-cap Italy international is unlike those currently in claret-and-blue.
David Moyes says West Ham almost signed ‘very rare’ Gianluca Scamacca in January
David Moyes has hailed Gianluca Scamacca for being an elite calibre centre-forward at just 23, having signed for West Ham. The Scot also believes that the towering 6 ft 5 marksman will give his squad an additional dimension that Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen cannot.
“Gianluca, we’ve been watching him for some time, and even considered going for him last January,” Moyes shared. “He has a presence as a player with his size and his ability to take the ball in, retain possession.
“We see him helping in maybe a different way to what we’ve had, and his youthfulness means we know there is more room for improvement. It’s very rare you can have a top striker at 23 years of age, but he is.”
Scamacca rejected a late approach from Paris Saint-Germain to sign for West Ham and give Moyes his long-awaited new forward. Sky Sports reported the Ligue 1 giants revived their pursuit as the Italian neared the Hammers, but he had already given his word to the Irons.
He now steps into the void that Sebastien Haller created after joining Ajax in January 2021 for £20m. And Scamacca will hope he can do what Haller could not and prove a success in Moyes’ system, which did not suit a target man leading the line over the dynamic Antonio.
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