Reports that West Ham are in talks with Sassuolo over the signing of Gianluca Scamacca are true, Claret and Hugh have learned this evening.
It has been reported that no official bid has been tabled as yet but ongoing talks centre on the transfer fee & payment structure of any deal.
PSG are also said to be interested but are unwilling – as it stands – to meet the asking price and are reported to have had a previous bid of €35m rejected.
Sassuolo’s valuation is thought to be €50m (£42.2m).
Both EXWHUEMployee and CandH have had confirmation from club insiders that there is something in this report.
The 23-year-old scored 16 goals in 36 league appearances for Sassuolo last term, making his Italy debut in September and featuring in the side that drew 0-0 with England at Molineux last month.
The confirmation comes on top of confirmed interest in Armando Broja and Andre Onana as David Moyes’ transfer targets. It remains to be seen what this kind of interest will mean for the potential Broja pursuit, as we know Moyes is very keen on the Chelsea ace.
I am surprised that the club are talking this one up as I am certain that this will play out as so many of our recent attempts at luring top quality players to the London Stadium: nowhere. The player is not keen to join us and wants a transfer to PSG, so hopefully West Ham will have a reality check and concentrate on getting the Broja signing over the line.
Hmm PSG or West Ham? Big choice for the lad to make in the next few days. Does he want to compete with the likes of Messi, Mbappe, Neymar etc for a starting spot with PSG? Or does he want to come to the premier league and challenge the mighty Mickey Antonio for a place in the West Ham team?
Sounds as though you are making the case for PSG then: just imagine playing alongside Messi and Mbappe! Seriously though I would be overjoyed if this transfer happened but it it is one thing to discuss terms with the selling club, but quite another dealing with the player and his agent. As with the Kalvin Phillips’ scenario, West Ham could offer more but if the player wants to go elsewhere, he will. At this stage the Hammers have the attraction of being a Premiership team in London but despite having had two good seasons we are not (yet) a Champions League outfit and our last meaningful trophy was over forty years ago. Our likeliest way forward is surely to sign young players who are realising their potential, like Broja – and Gallagher? – and see them grow with the club. Signing Scammaca would be a brilliant achievement though, if it happens, but would be even better if it came out of the blue with none of the pre-Moyes era leaks.
As with Selsdon and Clive am sceptical whether we can get this over the line, at least one reporter is saying that we have had a £34.2 m bid accepted by Sassuolo, although as we know there are plenty of journo’s jumping guns to be the first to break a story… as he has said previously he wants to remain in Italy even if we have had the bid accepted it will be interesting to see if we can do the next part in convincing him to join and paying enough salary.
The Onana one is definitely one to excited about if we can agree a fee he already looks on the edge of World Class kind of reminds me of Marc Vivien-Foe not necessarily in his style but in his stature and grace for such a big man, think he would genuinely scare the life out of his opposition and give us much more edge in midfield as he is better on the ball than Soucek is even though I would hate to see Soucek go as he gives 100% every match and is a real warrior and imho is one of our very best players.