West Ham United must see off Tottenham competition for Sassuolo winger Armand Lauriente
The agent of Armand Lauriente has confirmed West Ham made an attempt to sign the Sassuolo winger during the summer transfer window.
Lauriente is not exactly a household name, yet he has also attracted interest from Tottenham and Serie A champions Napoli among others.
However, as representative Roberto Meloni told TuttoMercatoWeb [26 September]: “He prefers a second season in Sassuolo to confirm himself.”
Rather than jump at the chance to join a bigger club, Lauriente is happy to bide his time.
With his 25th birthday on the horizon, that is a brave choice to make, but the versatile attacker clearly backs himself to continue improving.
And that has been the case in the early stages of this season, as Lauriente has scored one and assisted another in five Serie A appearances.
That includes a long-range strike that caught out Wojciech Szczesny as Sassuolo earned a shock 4-2 win on Saturday [23 September].
Indeed, as per Transfermarkt, the former France U21 international has contributed to 22% of Sassuolo’s league goals this campaign.
Lauriente also averages two completed dribbles per game, which is more than any West Ham player this season [WhoScored].
West Ham are not exactly crying out for a new left-sided attacker, but Lauriente has the ability to shift into a more central role.
Like Kylian Mbappe at Paris Saint-Germain, and another Frenchman in Thierry Henry with Arsenal going further back, he is a right-footed player on the left.
Not to put too much pressure on the player, but West Ham – and others – have clearly identified something in the Rennes academy product they like, and he appears to be going from strength to strength.
On that basis, the Hammers must ensure they are still in the hunt to sign Lauriente when he likely leaves Sassuolo in 2024.
In other West Ham news, David Moyes could help save the club millions with a decision he made on Wednesday [27 September].