George Overhill

Thu 14 July 2022 21:10, UK

Sassuolo CEO Giovanni Carnevali has spoken out on the attempts from West Ham and Paris Saint-Germain to buy Gianluca Scamacca.

The Italian is a key target for the Hammers who are looking to take advantage of a deadlock in the earlier push from the French giants to sign him, and have now outbid them.

With the situation around the chase for Armando Broja not progressing the club have made a concerted effort to bring in the 23-year-old from Serie A, and his club’s chief has now laid out the current situation.

Fabrizio Romano shared Carnevali’s words on Twitter Thursday evening (14 July), writing: “Sassuolo CEO Carnevali: “West Ham are offering €40m for Scamacca and Paris Saint-Germain offering €35m. There are also some add-ons as difference”.

“We don’t need to sell, so we will see – there’s no agreement with any club now”.

Leaders

The update makes it clear that the Irons are leading the race but going public in this way may be a power play to attempt to push up the price.

With Ryan Taylor of the Express previously reporting that the discussions between West Ham and the Italian side had moved onto add-ons and deal structure the most recent statement looks like a final attempt to rouse the French champions.

A move to Paris looked to be on the cards until negotiations reached a standstill, and the Hammers have since rushed ahead.

As long as Scamacca himself is open to a move to the London Stadium then it looks like the club are in the box seat.

There are surely far more opportunities to play if he makes a Premier League move, as Michail Antonio is famously the lone striking option here.

Getting stuck behind Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar might seem glamorous but likely means a fair bit of time on the bench.

Clearly mega-rich PSG could trump most clubs in world football with a major offer, but as they haven’t yet they presumably don’t wish to.