West Ham United are hot on the heels of young Italian defender Riccardo Calafiori, according to Tutto Mercato. The 22-year-old is a key target for manager Julen Lopetegui, who is revamping his defensive options for the upcoming season.
Calafiori, known for his composure on the ball and aggressive defending style, impressed at Bologna last season. The left-footed player can comfortably slot in at both centre-back and left-back, adding valuable versatility to the West Ham backline.
Reports suggest Calafiori perfectly complements the playing style Lopetegui is implementing at West Ham. The Italian, if partnered with potential signing Max Kilman in central defence, could provide a solid foundation for the team.
At a reported £34 million, Calafiori represents excellent value for money in today’s inflated transfer market. This price tag makes him a very attractive proposition for the Hammers.
West Ham aren’t alone in their pursuit of Calafiori. Premier League giants Liverpool are also reportedly interested in the young defender, adding another layer of competition for Lopetegui’s side.
Interestingly, Calafiori himself has spoken favourably about a potential move to the Premier League, with West Ham being one of the clubs he mentioned as a desired destination. In 2022, he expressed a dream of playing in England, specifically mentioning West Ham and Chelsea.
West Ham have a strong case for signing Calafiori. His talent, affordability, and reported interest in the club all work in their favour. However, they face stiff competition from Liverpool, and they will need to get a move on if they really want to sign him.
Why can’t we sign players quietly without it being plastered all over click bait sites? That would make a refreshing change! Coyi
Because we don’t have any ambition we won’t pay the transfer fee or wages and players want to know we value them and want to sign them, unfortunately west ham have just become a laughing stock when it comes to transfer business, as every single player who is mentioned as us having interest in is just all rumours and fantasy, every other Premier league club latitude to transfers is totally different from us if they want a player they go straight after them and sign them whereas we just spout out bull****, just take a look back at the last few seasons with regard to transfers we were linked to about 200 players that we had concrete interest in yet we signed just 4 and most we late in the window, and now this site is spouting more bull**** about us getting all our transfer business done b4 pre season and it’s been a month plus and we have signed just one kid with potential, hmers fans wake up and smell the coffee, oops sorry meant bull****.!
PLEASE I BEG GIVE US CALAFIORI
Yesterday;s news, today.
Hopefully the fact he scored an own goal for the Azuri against Spain yesterday may put others off 😄