Sean Fisher

Sun 11 December 2022 12:10, UK

Fabrizio Romano has told Caught Offside that West Ham United are putting all their eggs in the basket of Gianluca Scamacca this season.

Scamacca joined the Hammers for a hefty £35.5m [Sky Sports] in the summer, but the Italian hasn’t quite hit the ground running as David Moyes would’ve hoped.

To be fair, Scamacca did start his West Ham career in great form and enjoyed some great form in the Europa Conference League. However, he didn’t boast the same luck in the Premier League.

He’s been heavily rotated with Michail Antonio by Moyes, yet neither of his two strikers are delivering enough goals. But instead of going out and picking up a new striker in January, Romano reports that Moyes will keep faith with Scamacca in the second half of the season.

“At the moment, there are no negotiations for a new striker, nothing advanced or serious. It depends on the chances in the transfer market,” Romano told Caught Offside.

“West Ham invested a lot in Gianluca Scamacca and they’re convinced he’s a very good talent. Let’s see in January.”

Tryst and loyalty

Despite his job being on the line this season, Moyes has kept faith in Scamacca to provide the goals when the Premier League returns.

Only Everton, Nottingham Forest and Wolves have scored less than the Hammers this season, but Moyes seemingly won’t dip into the market for a new striker despite the side’s struggles.

While it’s an admirable show of loyalty towards his summer signing, Moyes could be made to pay for Scamacca’s failures this season if the 23-year-old doesn’t show considerable improvements. A repeat of the first half of the season will certainly see Moyes sacked.

Hopefully the World Cup break and training under Moyes for a full month has restored some confidence and rhythm in Scamacca.

Moyes is under pressure to justify the big money spent on his star striker, so Scamacca now needs to turn up and defend Moyes with some brilliant performances – starting with Arsenal on Boxing Day.