Sassuolo have admitted they wanted to sell Gianluca Scamacca to a Serie A club instead of West Ham in the summer.

The Hammers paid over £35m to sign the Italy international in the most recent transfer window.

Since then, he has struggled somewhat for form in the Premier League and has not scored a goal.

However, he has been on target in the Europa Conference League, and has also recently been playing for Italy in the international break, making an appearance against England last week.

Scamacca was in exceptional form for Sassuolo last season and scored 16 goals for the club.

And Sassuolo’s director of football Giovanni Carnevali has now claimed that the club didn’t want to sell him to the Irons and would much rather have had him stay in Serie A.

Quoted by Calciomercato, Carnevali said of the move: “For Scamacca, zero offers from Italy.

“I would have liked to see him again in our league, he is a young man, and he is in the national team. However, the market value was high, and, in our country, the economic situation is difficult.

“Fortunately, there are Premier League clubs who can afford him. We are satisfied with this transfer.”

Scamacca is still just 23, so there is plenty of room for improvement.