Torino sporting director West Ham United talks are ‘nonsense’
Suggestions that Torino director of football Davide Vagnati has jetted into London to hold talks with West Ham are “nonsense”, according to Claret and Hugh.
Tuttomercatoweb (13 December) suggest Vagnati has been in London to assess whether the Hammers would be interested in signing midfielder Sasa Lukic, with the Serie A club interested in signing Nikola Vlasic on a permanent deal.
It’s understood the Serie A are trying to find a way for the Hammers to reduce their current £12.5million asking price for the Croatian attacker. However, suggestions that Vagnati has been in London have been rubished by a “key” source close to Claret and Hugh.
The source writes (13 December): “Torino have an option on him for the end of the season. We have heard zero from them, the story is made up. It’s fiction…nonsense!”
Get him gone
Whether Vagnati was in London is irrelavent, West Ham simply have to offload Vlasic in the January window. The 25-year-old seems to be enjoying life in Serie A and is nowhere near the level required to be a consistent Premier League starter for David Moyes’ side.
Furthermore, if Torino are offering Lukic as part of the deal, it should be a no-brainer. Declan Rice is facing an uncerrtain future at the London Stadium and another central midfielder is certainly going to be high on Moyes’ agenda. Lukic is an experienced campaigner who has been representing Serbia in Qatar, and would add much needed depth to West Ham’s midfield.
However, at the moment it does appear to be pure speculation when it comes to Vlasic and Lukic. It’s clear that Torino are keen to do a deal, but at the moment all the talk is primarily coming from the Italian media. This won’t be the last we hear of this saga during the January window.