West Ham United to miss out on Santos forward Marcos Leonardo as Roma eye January deal
West Ham could be set to miss out on a deal to sign Marcos Leonardo as Roma are eyeing a January deal for the Santos forward.
Sky Sports Germany journalist Florian Plettenberg tweeted on 29 August that the Hammers were interested in signing the Brazilian alongside his compatriots Luis Alberto of Corinthians and Flamengo’s Pedro.
But a move never materialised for the 20-year-old, who has been dubbed the “new Neymar”, and Roma General Manager Tiago Pinto revealed in a press conference on 5 September that the forward “remains a target” after they also failed to sign him over the summer.
The Seria A giants were on the lookout for a new frontman throughout the transfer window, where they eventually signed Romelu Lukaku on loan from Chelsea.
They were also interested in Gianluca Scamacca, but the former Irons striker signed for Italian rivals Atalanta after they agreed a deal for a reported £27million.
But Pinto revealed that Leonardo has been a target for the club for more than 15 months, with the striker making a name for himself in Brazil.
“Marcos Leonardo is a player we’re still interested in,” he said. “He’s a player we’ve been tracking for 15, 16 months and it reached a point where the deal was not completely done but the three parties were close to agreeing.
“We were unlucky because in the space of a couple of months a historic club like Santos found themselves fighting relegation and their technical coordinator – someone you all know very well [Paulo Roberto Falcao] – was sacked.
“They changed coach, sold two 17-year-olds for €30million (£25.7million) and the situation became a lot more complicated. Selling your team’s best player halfway through the season became a political matter and I had to respect Santos’ decision.
“I was sorry but he remains a target. He’s a player I know very well. He’s 20 years old and has played 150 games and scored 50 goals for Santos.”
Italian news outlet CalcioMercato reported on 6 September that Roma are looking to have a deal in place to sign Leonardo in January after Santos secured the addition of former Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos on 4 September.
It said the Serie A side could end up paying less than the £15.4million plus add-ons they offered over the summer, with a deal worth less than £11.2million likely to be on the cards.
The forward has scored 49 goals and laid on 11 assists in 153 appearances for the Brazilian outfit, having registered 16 goals in 34 games last season.
That is an impressive return for such a young player and it’s disappointing that West Ham didn’t push harder to sign him due to his potential and the low price tag in this market.
Although Roma are clearly the strong favourites to land him in January, it would be worth making an offer to see if he can be tempted to make the switch to the Premier League as we need to start preparing for our future beyond Michail Antonio.
In other West Ham news, a Sky Sports journalist has been wowed by Tim Steidten after signing a “top-six player”.