West Ham United unsatisfied with Gianluca Scamacca, loan-to-buy exit in June now likely
Gianluca Scamacca has not impressed West Ham and believes it would not be good for his career to stay at the club, according to Calcio Mercato.
It emerged on Tuesday (28 February) that the Italian striker had been dropped by his agents World Soccer Agency over a breakdown of “trust” [via Fabrizio Romano] and the summer signing now is reportedly in line for an exit at the end of the season.
The £35.5million signing from Sassuola was supposed to provide the attacking firepower that was lacking when only Michail Antonio was in the squad as a recognised striker but has so far scored only seven goals, with just three coming in the Premier League.
According to Calcio Mercato on Tuesday the Hammers are unimpressed with his overall performance, although they have taken into account the injury problems he has had.
Reportedly the player himself now believes that leaving after just a year in London would be the best move for his career, having preferred to stay in Italy when he left Sassuolo but the Serie A options in the running, Napoli and Inter, could not match his former club’s demands.
The report states that “divorce is in the air” with a June exit, likely on a loan-to-buy agreement, is now seen as “very probable”.
Overreaction
There’s no denying that this season hasn’t gone to plan for West Ham or Scamacca, and the agency development suggests all is not entirely well with him off the pitch.
But players change agents all the time so it doesn’t need to be a full-blown catastrophe in itself, and it would be a surprise if either side was ready to pull the plug on the move already.
If he can get back to full fitness and into the line up soon then there is still plenty of time this season to make his mark ahead of what everyone will hope is an improved season next year.
Danny Ings’ arrival has affected his standing, but with Antonio presumably likely to leave in the summer the two striker signings this season would look like a strong pairing.
Unless there is a buyer willing to pay what it would take for the Irons to make the majority of their money back and an available alternative it seems premature from the club’s side to let him go.
And it was reported when he arrived that he had turned down a late advance from PSG to make the move happen [Sky Sports, 27 July], so unless something has gone badly wrong behind the scenes it seems overblown from the 24-year-old’s perspective that he is looking to leave.