The Hammers have long been linked with the Juventus man, but it appears as thought the Saints could hijack the deal.
West Ham United have long been considered among the frontrunners for the signature of Juventus forward Simone Zaza, but a report from the Sun claims that fellow Premier League side Southampton could yet hijack the deal.
The Hammers have been engaged in a highly-publicised quest to strengthen their attacking options this summer and Zaza has consistently been cited as a leading target.
Slaven Bilic looked to have solved his striker problem with the £20 million signing of Swansea City man Andre Ayew, but the Ghanaian has been ruled out for the majority of the remainder of 2016 through injury already.
Zaza’s father appeared to confirm that a move to West Ham was on the cards recently when he said as quoted by the Sun: “West Ham are a solution but need to come up with something concrete. We are taking London into serious consideration as his next destination. We expect news soon.”
However, the paper now reports that Southampton manager Claude Puel has set his sights on the Italian international to boost his attacking options after the departure of the 25-year-old international teammate Graziano Pelle earlier this summer.
Zaza is expected to cost somewhere around £21.5 million, but the Saints now have that kind of money with the £30 million up front that they received from Liverpool for Sadio Mane.
Despite that, the report also adds that both Southampton and West Ham would be looking to take Zaza on an initial season-long loan deal with a view to a later permanent move as opposed to paying up front for a man who has never tested himself in England.
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