West Ham Get Their Man
West Ham are finally set to complete the blockbuster signing of Gianluca Scamacca from Sassuolo for a reported fee of £35.5m, including add-ons. The 23-year-old sharpshooter, who notched 16 goals in the Serie A last season, is due for a scheduled medical on Tuesday ahead of the announcement.
As part of the deal that progressed slowly, a 10% sell-on clause for Sassuolo was included as well.
Unlike previous seasons where an upturn is usually followed by collective tragic falls at West Ham, David Moyes and co. appear to be building a squad capable of challenging for higher spots in the Premier League, as they hope to improve on their seventh-place finish.
Scamacca is bound to be their fourth summer signing, as he joins Nayef Aguard (£30m from Rennes), Alphonse Areola (£7.75m from Paris Saint-Germain) and Flynn Downes (from Swansea City for an undisclosed fee) at the London stadium.
With Michail Antonio the only recognised striker in the squad, the search for a suitable number nine was part of the round-the-clock activity at West Ham.
They were heavily linked with Chelsea striker Armando Broja, but it remains to be seen whether Thomas Tuchel prefers the Albania international to stay put.
For now, they’ve got a superstar in the making within their ranks. Sassuolo were initially demanding £42m, so it goes without saying – West Ham will be pleased with this piece of business.
The transfer window see-saw finally ended when Sassuolo manager Alessio Dionisi gave the green light, not willing to further delve into speculations. West Ham ultimately beat Sassuolo’s resolve and are poised to land the forward.
When asked earlier about Scamacca, Dionisi had affirmed “Scamacca didn’t do as much in training as the others, and we didn’t want to risk him. What I’d like from the transfer market is for it to close as soon as possible, so we don’t need to keep talking about it.”
West Ham meanwhile, are in search of a left-sided defender or creator as well, and as reported by Sky Sports, they appear to now have their eyes set on Filip Kostic.
-Akarshak Roy
Twitter: @RoyAkarshak