West Ham United surge on Emerson deal delivers major blow to Juventus and Lazio bosses
West Ham have overtaken Juventus and Lazio in their push to sign Emerson Palmieri before the window closes, Calcio Mercato reports.
David Moyes, chasing left-back competition since at least the end of last season, is after the Italy international to push Aaron Cresswell and there is confidence that a deal can be done before the next Premier League game against Brighton (21 August).
Jacob Steinberg in The Guardian reported that the opening offer of £13million was turned down, but an asking price of £15million is not a huge gap to bridge.
According to Calcio Mercato, this comes as a “hard blow” for Massimiliano Allegri and Maurizio Sarri, both Scudetto winners with the Old Lady, who have long been tracking the full-back, with the latter his manager for a season at Stamford Bridge.
Fallen giants Juve are reportedly pushing hard in the market late in the window, with Leandro Paredes and Memphis Depay their midfield and attacking targets, but they their 28-year-old defensive hope looks set to “fade” thanks to the Hammers.
Snooze you lose
The two Italian giants were probably hoping to cling on and take advantage of one of the many last-minute bargains that Chelsea offer up every season when their massive squad needs to be trimmed.
But new Blues owner Todd Boehly made it very clear to West Ham that he was only interested in selling the Brazilian-born player, rather than let him go on another loan.
Emerson spent last season on loan at Lyon where he came up against his potential new employers in the Europa League, and the French team refused to send him back when Ben Chilwell was ruled out, making it a deal that benefited his temporary side far more than his parent club.
The price isn’t huge for a Premier League player, but still would probably be more than the Serie A sides were ready to pay so the path is surely clear for the Irons to complete this one.
Moyes is looking to kickstart a season that has suffered from a distinctly uninspiring start, and the dual arrival of Emerson and Thilo Kehrer could help him do that.
There is so long left in the season that he can certainly turn things around, but the opening weeks have not been what he hope for.