A board confidant has responded to a new Gianluca Scamacca exit claim and made a grim admission about the West Ham striker situation.
West Ham fans may have been surprised to see Italian striker Gianluca Scamacca named on the bench for the 3-1 friendly defeat to Rennes on Saturday.
The 6ft 5in striker continues to be heavily linked with a Hammers exit in the summer transfer window.
He was absent from West Ham’s squad for the 2-2 friendly draw with Dagenham and Redbridge last weekend.
And that sparked claims he had been given permission to return to his homeland ahead of a West Ham departure.
The likes of Il Tempo – via TMW – and Roma Press reported over the weekend that Scamacca was ‘in Italy as Roma re-open talks’ for West Ham’s £35m man.
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But the forward was back in training with West Ham on Monday and had been given permission to fly back to Italy for personal reasons – as reported on Hammers News.
While he was back in his homeland, though, Scamacca issued another come and get me plea following on from his declaration that he would love to play for boyhood club Roma and Jose Mourinho.
Some West Ham fans want to see Scamacca given another season to prove himself. Others are getting sick of the constant rumours and his comments in the press.
Gazzetta dello Sport then claimed West Ham will sanction the Italy striker’s exit when a reportedly imminent deal for Man City starlet Calors Borges is confirmed.
And on Saturday lunchtime, Calciomercato stated a deal had been agreed between West Ham and Roma to loan out Scamacca for £4m with a £19m option to buy.
The report even claimed a permanent transfer would become obligatory if Scamacca registered a certain number of appearances in the 2023-24 season and Roma qualify for the Champions League.
Now a board confidant has responded to the new Scamacca exit claim and has made a grim admission about the West Ham striker situation.
Sean Whetstone says the claims ‘have been denied by sources close to the club’.
And he has made the rather uninspiring admission that West Ham don’t intend to sign a new striker this summer.
Instead the Hammers will look to keep Scamacca – who appears to be clearly agitating for a move – as well as linked-away and ageing Michail Antonio and Danny Ings, who has been totally unconvincing.
“West Ham has made it clear that Scamacca is not available for loans and any offer needs to be permanent for the full price the Hammers paid for him last summer which was £30.5m plus add-ons…” Whetstone states on 6foot2.
“West Ham are expecting to keep all three strikers this season and not make the striker position a priority for this summer.”
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