Joe Cole issues advice to West Ham summer signing to prevent repeat of transfer failure

Joe Cole has told Gianluca Scamacca how he can add to his two West Ham goals and ultimately turn himself into a club icon, unlike predecessor Sebastien Haller.

West Ham broke their transfer record in July 2019 to sign Haller from Eintracht Frankfurt. BBC Sport claim the transfer to be worth £45million, as the striker penned a five-year contract with the Irons.

Haller failed to bring his Bundesliga form to England, though, and only 14 goals came his way in 54 West Ham appearances.

West Ham cut their losses in January last year by selling Haller to Ajax. They received £20m for him, which saw them take a big financial hit.

The east London outfit pursued several attackers to replace him, including Darwin Nunez. However, he went on to join Liverpool instead, and West Ham’s other striker pursuits fell through too.

David Moyes had to use Michail Antonio as his main centre-forward for 18 months, before West Ham finally got a successor.

They spent £35.5m to capture Italy international Gianluca Scamacca from Sassuolo.

He has found the net in two Europa Conference League qualifiers for West Ham. However, his first Premier League and full Europa Conference League goals have proved illusive so far.

Gianluca Scamacca has night to forget

Scamacca was in from the start during West Ham’s recent home match against Romanian club FCSB. However, he was hauled off at half time following a poor performance.

The 23-year-old missed several good chances as Moyes’ side went into the break 1-0 down. The manager replaced him with Antonio at the interval, and West Ham went on to win 3-1.

During BT Sport’s coverage of the match, Cole drew a comparison between Scamacca and Haller. He also told the recent arrival how he can turn his fortunes around.

“We know he’s new. We know how hard it is for a new player. He’s had a couple of weeks off through illness as well so he’s obviously not as sharp as he wants to be but he’s got to put some of these [chances away],” Cole said (via West Ham Zone).

“This is like some of the basic stuff. I’m not saying I was the greatest at it, but I’m expecting for a player of his ilk to be putting that ball in the back of the net, or at least on target.”

Cole added: “He’s just snatching at his chances at the moment, and that’s not helping him, and it might not help his confidence.

“He looks anxious doesn’t he as a striker? We’ve seen it with a great player, top player, Haller, when he came in. He never settled and you don’t want that for Scamacca, so he needs to just slow himself down and calm himself down.”

Scamacca has good pedigree, having hit 16 Serie A goals for Sassulo last term. He is still adjusting to life in England, so West Ham fans just need to give him time.

Scamacca has the attributes and tenacity to start finding the back of the net and eventually become Antonio’s replacement.

Yes, he had a bad game on Thursday, but it is part of the learning curve and should only help Scamacca to become a better player.

Meanwhile, Thomas Tuchel and Chelsea chiefs fell out over a £30m bid from West Ham for a Blues player, according to a report.