Dharmesh Sheth shares what Di Marzio told him about West Ham United and Gianluca Scamacca off-air at Sky Sports
Dharmesh Sheth says West Ham United’s move to sign Gianluca Scamacca “could be a big one” with Paris Saint-Germain cooling their interest in the Sassuolo striker.
The Sky Sports News journalist has revealed a conversation he had with Sky Italy’s Gianluca Di Marzio, who says that PSG are nowhere near offering what Sassuolo want for the 23-year-old Italian international.
It is understood that West Ham are closer.
As shown in a video clip on Sky Sports’ Transfer Centre on Friday (15 July, 06:53am), Sheth said: “The other player West Ham United are interested in – and this could be a big one – is the Sassuolo striker Gianluca Scamacca.
Sheth added: “I’ve just been speaking before we came on-air to the Sky Italy transfer reporter Gianluca Di Marzio and he says PSG went in with a bid of €30million plus €5million in add-ons.
“[It’s] simply not being entertained by Sassuolo and it looks like PSG have stopped for now with their interest in Scamacca.
“Di Marzio also told me West Ham are prepared to pay in the region of €40million plus add-ons, [which is] closer to what Sassuolo want in €50million but perhaps still a gap in valuation.
“But it seems West Ham are perhaps closer to Sassuolo’s asking price compared to what PSG are.”
Get it done
We’re desperate for a new striker now.
Scamacca is clearly a top-quality one based on the fact that PSG have been trying to sign him but the stats from last season also show how good he was.
The ex-PSV striker scored 16 times in 36 Serie A appearances for Sassuolo, finding the net against top teams like AC Milan, Inter Milan and Napoli in the process.
Only five players outscored the Italy international last term even though he only managed 2.2 shots per game in Serie A, according to WhoScored.
That means that 20 players in Serie A last season averaged more shots on goal per appearance than Scamacca, even though he was sixth in the race for the golden boot.
Clearly, he knows how to take a chance when one comes his way.
Stats by FBref show that Scamacca’s xG last season was 10.8 but he outperformed that by almost six goals, meaning that he’s not only prolific but he’s good at scoring goals you wouldn’t expect him to.
West Ham could do a lot worse than signing Scamacca.
Let’s hope Sassuolo meet us halfway and accept a bid.