West Ham United
Championship
West Ham ‘accept offer’ to sell 2022 signing at just half of original fee, with attacker gaining ideal move
Tomas Soucek, Maxwel Cornet and Gianluca Scamacca celebrate West Ham goal
West Ham United have accepted a bid from a major European club to let one of their summer 2022 arrivals leave, according to a report.
West Ham went big last summer as they attempted to build on the seventh-placed finish in the Premier League the previous season. According to Sky Sports, they spent around £180m to sign Nayef Aguerd, Alphonse Areola, Gianluca Scamacca, Flynn Downes, Maxwel Cornet, Thilo Kehrer, Emerson and Lucas Paqueta.
David Moyes’ side endured a disappointing domestic campaign in 2022-23, slipping down to 14th in the Premier League. However, they went on to win the Europa Conference League, the club’s first major trophy in 43 years.
One player who was expected to have a big impact on West Ham is Gianluca Scamacca. The Irons spent £35.5m on him, which came after he netted 16 goals in 38 matches for Sassuolo the previous season.
However, the centre-forward only managed eight goals in 27 outings for West Ham last term, and just three of those strikes came in the league.
He suffered a knee injury in January and underwent surgery on the issue three months later, effectively ending his chances of forcing his way into Moyes’ starting eleven.
Scamacca has been heavily linked with a move back to Serie A in recent months. It has been claimed he is unhappy in East London and wants to go back to Italy so he can rediscover his best form, with Roma his biggest admirers.
Italian source Roma Giallorossa, cited by Sport Witness, have now provided a big update on Scamacca’s future.
West Ham forward ‘ready to embrace’ new club
They state that the 24-year-old is ‘ready to embrace’ Roma now Jose Mourinho’s side have struck a deal with West Ham for him. The Prem club have ‘accepted an offer’ from Roma which involves an initial loan, plus the obligation to buy.
Roma have agreed to pay West Ham an initial €3-4m (£2.5-3.4m) for the loan, which will last a season. They will then be obligated to pay €20-21m (£17.1-18m) to sign Scamacca on a permanent basis in summer 2024. Although, the obligatory purchase clause will only become active if Scamacca makes a certain number of appearances and Roma qualify for the Champions League.
West Ham selling Scamacca at half of his original price represents very bad business. However, Moyes will not want an unhappy player remaining in his squad, so he will be glad to see Scamacca go. Plus, West Ham would struggle to hold out for a big fee given Scamacca’s poor debut campaign in England.
In contrast, the 11-time Italy international will be delighted about joining Roma. He was born in Rome and spent time in both the Lazio and Roma youth setups before heading to PSV in 2015.
He has always wanted to lead the Roma attack and could soon be given that opportunity. Scamacca also knows that shining in his home country will given him a great chance of starting up front for Italy at Euro 2024, should they qualify for the tournament.