West Ham United face Juventus competition for Gianluca Scamacca as Paris Saint-Germain fall back
West Ham may still have to overcome a European giant in the race for Gianluca Scamacca, according to journalist Ignazio Genuardi.
With previous rival Paris Saint-Germain now apparently out of the picture having moved onto Hugo Ekitike instead the Hammers appear to be in the driving seat for the 23-year-old Italian.
A report from 90min goes as far as to say an agreement has been reached in principle with Sassuolo for the forward, but there could still be a late challenge from Juventus to overcome.
According to former Foot365 editor Genuardi, the Old Lady has turned their attentions to Scamacca as they look for an option to support Dusan Vlahovic.
David Moyes is still apparently interested in Armando Broja but so far the club have got further down the line for the tall Italian international.
Threat
Just as one European giant is vanquished another arrives on the scene, but it will surely take more than just late interest to knock the Irons out of pole position on this one.
Unless the Italian giants are willing to offer more money there seems no reason for Sassuolo to sell to a team in the same division and then have to face their former star in the new season.
The main threat this could cause is if the player himself wants Champions League football and holds out to be given that chance, since West Ham are playing in the Europa Conference League in 2022/23.
But since PSG are in the top competition and it appeared there was little genuine threat from them once the Hammers outbid them there is surely only an outside chance that the latest interested party springs to the front.
Moyes will want to get the final few stages of this deal moved on as quickly as possible to guard against this sort of last-minute intervention.
Fans are understandably excited at the prospect of a new striker finally arriving, so anything that could throw it off is a concern of sorts.
But it would seem to require a major acceleration from Turin before this deal is put it real jeopardy.
It looks like the Irons’ to lose having got as far as they have, so it will now come down to how willing they are to meet the demands of the selling club and the player.