West Ham United: Gianluca Scamacca ready to ‘make leap’ to big club, Simone Inzaghi knows him well – ex-coach
Gianluca Scamacca’s former coach at Lazio, Emiliano Leva, believes the West Ham United striker has all the attributes and is “ready” to move to a “big” club.
According to Sport Mediaset (9 March) the 24-year-old’s situation is being closely monitored by Inter Milan after a tough first season in East London.
Leva believes Scamacca will make an impact at the London Stadium but hasn’t ruled out a return to Italy, with Inter boss Simone Inzaghi well aware of the Italian forward.
“Even a year ago, his name was associated with these teams and more. Gianluca is a first-tier centre-forward, it is no coincidence that he has been with the national team for some time,” he said (exclusive interview with Sport Italia, 20 March).
“I can certainly tell you that he has all the potential to make the leap into a big one. Inzaghi already knows him well from the time when I coached him at Lazio, he often came to watch the youth games.”
“I can’t say where I would see him best, they are complex discussions that involve the interlocking of many factors. I repeat that the only thing I am sure of is that Gianluca is ready to make this possible leap. But you will see that in the meantime he will return to being the man with West Ham.”
Time to shine
Scamacca really needs to show his worth in a West Ham shirt when the Premier League resumes after the international break. The majority of his goals have come in the Conference League, he must now start delivering domestically.
A departure in the summer of 2023 is highly unlikely, which will see some added importance placed on the start of the 2023/24 campaign. The Italian will be hoping to put his injury issues behind him and hit the ground running but it is surely unlikely that Scamacca stays at the club if they are relegated to the Championship.
He did not make a big money move to the Premier League to fall into England’s second tier. The same could be said for the likes of Lucas Paqueta, Declan Rice and Jarrod Bowen.
David Moyes is clinging onto his job by his fingertips and has seen his side fall back into the relegation zone after the weekend’s results.
So the upcoming back-to-back home fixtures against Southampton and Newcastle have to be capitalised on.