Simone Zaza is in the form of his life right now in La Liga – but the Valencia striker couldn’t hit the proverbial barn door at West Ham.
2016 as a whole did not paint Simone Zaza in the best light – yet one disastrous calendar year may taint his career forever.
After being immortalised in meme form for that horrific penalty miss against Germany at the European Championships, the former Juventus outcast did not do his reputation any good with a disastrous stint at West Ham in which he failed to score a single goal, or even manage a shot on target, in eight Premier League appearances.
However, it’s worth remembering that there’s a reason Zaza was a key man in Antonio Conte’s Italy squad and why perennial Serie A champions Juve paid £12.7 million to bring the former player back to Turin from Sassuolo in 2015 (Goal).
Five days, four goals
Zaza is a hugely talented centre-forward on his day and, after swapping Juve for Valencia on a permanent basis this summer, is proving that in style.
Fresh from scoring a nine minute hat-trick in the midweek blitz against Malaga, the 26-year-old maintained his purple patch with a hugely impressive winner in a 3-2 away triumph at high flying Real Sociedad on Sunday night.
In total, Zaza’s 85th minute strike took him to five goals in five games and four in the last five days. As a result, Valencia are fourth in the table and look set for their best La Liga season since current Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo was at the helm in 2014/15.
Suddenly, the man who couldn’t find a goal at West Ham can’t stop scoring.
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