The Hammers have beaten a host of top European clubs to reach an agreement with Serie A side Sassuolo for their star forward Gianluca Scamacca – as much was confirmed by the club’s CEO.
West Ham, who were also chasing Chelsea’s Armando Broja this summer, have agreed to pay the Neroverdi a basic fee of 36 million euros for their star striker, along with seven million in add-ons.
Giovanni Carnevali, Sassuolo’s Chief Executive Officer, confirmed the same via a short statement to Corriere Dello Sport.
“There’s an agreement with West Ham. I’m sure he will do great things; he’s a huge talent and a very good guy,”
he said.
Scamacca is yet to pen down his contract with the Hammers but, barring any late unforeseen circumstances, will become the club’s fourth summer signing after Nayef Aguerd, Alphonse Areola, and Flynn Downes. The striker was also of interest to Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain but the Parisians chose to focus their efforts on signing budding striker Hugo Ekitike from Ligue 1 side Reims instead.
Now a full Italy international, Scamacca’s early career took him from the academies of Roman rivals Lazio and AS Roma to the Netherlands, where he joined PSV Eindhoven as a scholar. After a handful of appearances for the PSV reserve side, Scamacca returned to his native Italy to sign for Sassuolo, who, in his early years, sent him out on four successive loans across the continent.
Scamacca enjoyed a fruitful loan spell at fellow Serie A side Genoa in 2020/21, where he scored 12 goals in 29 appearances; the following season, Sassuolo made room in their squad for the young striker by shipping out veteran Francesco Caputo, and Scamacca repaid their faith by scoring 16 goals in 38 appearances.
With Scamacca on the verge of signing for the Hammers, the future of Broja is suddenly up in the air. Thomas Tuchel has previously reiterated his desire to keep the youngster around for the 2022/23 season, but he is yet to make an appearance for the Blues in pre-season.
