Remember a couple of weeks back, West Ham were linked via a couple of sources with a Serie A midfielder? Of course, the Potter story broke and we all forgot everything else for a while. The FA Cup defeat has focussed minds on the shortcomings – the need for a striker of course – but also how limited Edson Alvarez looked and how short on creativity the West Ham squad is. But there’s near zero in the transfer kitty so these part exchange deals look the only way that West Ham will be improving the squad in other areas of the pitch.
The continued absence of Emerson Palmieri does nothing to dampen down the speculation that the very ‘swap’ between West Ham and Juventus which was covered in so many reports may be gathering momentum.
Indeed, Ollie Scarles’ debut last night in Emerson’s role might have pushed this one forward, now that Graham Potter has seen his new youngster perform well enough to take centre stage in that position. If there is truth in the speculation that West Ham want to swap Emerson for Juventus’ midfielder Nicolo Fagioli then the field appears to be clear: According to a new report today in juvefc.com, the club are ‘struggling to get offers for players they want to sell’ – including Fagioli. Which could work perfectly to West Ham’s advantage.
Fagioli, not the fastest but :”Widely regarded as a technically talented player, with the ability to dictate play and contribute to a team’s midfield creativity. His skill level was recognised at the highest level when he earned a place in Italy’s squad for Euro 2024″.
I’d say Ollie Scarles’ superb debut just moved this one from ‘unlikely’ to ‘possible’. The longer Emerson remains absent without explanation, the more it’ll fuel the speculation.
I’m always reading about these player swap deal transfers but when do they ever happen in football? Extremely rarely I’d say.
Let’s start working on some nicknames?
“Not the fastest” says it all surely. Rodriguez and Soler, we don’t need another. No No No to Fagioli! Same for Rashford, we are not a final rest home for players fizzing out their careers. Scarles and other youngsters are promising but they are not Moore or Martin or others so need a gradual, protected intro to Prem.
Fagioli is a type of bean in Italian. the “g”, unfortunately for you is sounded as a “j”.
Fa-jolly is how you pronounce it. we could call him Mr. Bean 🤷🏻♂️
sorry, the “g” is sounded as a “j”. the emphasis syllable is “jol”
Let’s not get carried away with Ollie Scarles too early. He showed great maturity, performance & potential last night, but now is not the time to put too much weight on his shoulders. It looks like we have unearthed a gem, in Scarles, but he must be allowed to develop at a proper pace. I thought that he played better than I have seen Emerson play at any time this season, but it is not the time to use him as a permanent replacement. If we swop Emerson for Fagioli, it should not be on the grounds that we have an immediate replacement for him in Scarles.
Not many part exchange deals get done, there’s too much tied up together and double the propensity to fail. Two seperate deals one in each direction is more likely.
You lost me at “not the quickest”
Is Fagioli going to add anything different to Soler? Does sound like it.