Who is Gianluca Scamacca? The 6ft 5in West Ham target deemed too expensive by mega-rich PSG

Having signed a goalkeeper, defender and a midfielder so far this summer, West Ham appear to be turning their attentions to bringing in a new striker.  

According to the chief executive of Serie A side Sassuolo, Giovanni Carnevali, the Hammers have made an official £33.8million bid for Gianluca Scamacca but no agreement is in place yet. 

Read on as Sportsmail profiles the Italian international, from which football superstar he has previously been compared with to why he had to distance himself from his father and grandfather last year.  

Who is Gianluca Scamacca? 

Scamacca is 23 years old and has been at Sassuolo since 2017. Born in Rome, he was previously at the academies of Lazio, Roma and PSV before returning to Italy to sign for I Neroverdi.

After being sent out on loan to Cremonese, PEC Zwolle and Ascoli in his first three years at Sassuolo, Scamacca was finally granted regular Serie A game time during another loan spell away at Genoa in the 2020-21 season. 

Twelve goals in 29 games for the Ligurian club encouraged new Sassuolo boss Alessio Dionisi to give him a chance last season following the departure of Francesco Caputo. 

The striker took the opportunity with both hands, netting 16 times in 36 league appearances, with only five players hitting more in Serie A. 

The 23-year-old started in Italy’s goalless draw against England at Molineux last month

At international level, Scamacca represented Italy all the way from under-15s to the under-21s, racking up a whopping 79 caps all across all youth age groups. He was part of the under-19 side that finished as runners-up in the 2018 European Championship and scored in the defeat to Portugal in the final. 

The frontman earned a first call-up to Roberto Mancini’s senior squad last September and has since made seven appearances but is yet to score. He started in the 0-0 draw against England at Molineux last month. 

What kind of striker is he? 

The Italian is an imposing presence at 6ft 5in tall, but he should not be classified as a stereotypical target man. 

While he is more than capable of using his physicality to prove a nuisance to defenders, he is even harder to defend against because he also possesses a strong technical skillset. 

Scamacca is agile and his hold-up play is a key part of his game as he is able to create chances for team-mates. Such attributes regularly see him compared to Zlatan Ibrahimovic.  

Scamacca has been regularly compared to Swedish icon Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the past

On being likened to the Swede, Scamacca said: ‘He is a champion, being compared to such a champion is only a pleasure. But I have my own way, my own way of playing.’ 

Above all else though, the Italian has developed into a clinical goalscorer. Over the last two seasons, the only Premier League players to find the net more regularly than Scamacca (once every 146 minutes) are Liverpool pair Mo Salah (once every 130 minutes) and Diogo Jota (once every 145 minutes). 

Where would he fit in at West Ham?

David Moyes has long been on the hunt for a new striker, with the Hammers boss forced to rely on Michail Antonio throughout last season. 

Jarrod Bowen and Andriy Yarmolenko were required to fill in upfront whenever the Jamaican international was unavailable, so Scamacca’s arrival fills a big hole in the squad. 

It is unlikely that Moyes will switch to a formation that accommodates two strikers, so the 23-year-old will compete with Antonio for a starting spot. 

The Italian would compete with Michail Antonio for a starting spot in West Ham’s team

Scamacca’s numbers last season stack up better, with Antonio only managing 10 goals in 35 league games. He is also more of a long-term option than the 32-year-old. 

There will be plenty of opportunities for game time and rotation though, as West Ham will compete in the Europa Conference League this season after finishing seventh in the Premier League last term.  

Who else is interested in him? 

West Ham’s main competition comes in the form of Paris Saint-Germain. Sassuolo’s chief executive Carnevali confirmed that the French club have bid £29.6m for Scamacca. 

However, according to Fabrizio Romano, the Serie A side want £42.5million for the striker – which PSG believe is too much and are not willing to pay. 

PSG reportedly believe that Sassuolo’s £42.5million price tag for Scamacca is too expensive

That could leave a clear path for the Hammers to secure Scamacca’s signature if they are prepared to meet the hefty price tag.  

Arsenal, Tottenham and Borussia Dortmund have all been linked with a move for the 23-year-old in the past, but it seems that West Ham’s concrete interest could put them in the driving seat. 

Anything else I should know? 

Much like Ibrahimovic, Scamacca has a bit of a reputation for causing controversy. 

In 2017, he was sent home from Italy under-19 duty along with Everton bad boy Moise Kean for ‘disciplinary reasons’. Reports at the time suggested that the pair ‘took a practical joke too far’. 

Scamacca was once was sent home from Italy under-19 duty along with Everton’s Moise Kean

It would only be fair to Scamacca to assume that he has matured since then, but last year he had to distance himself from his own relatives after they made headlines for the wrong reasons. 

In May 2021, the striker’s father was arrested after breaking into his former club Roma’s training ground and destroying club executives’ cars with an iron bar. Six months later, his grandfather threatened customers in a Rome bar with a knife. 

Scamacca slammed the ‘violent and unspeakable episodes committed by people linked to my surname’ and claimed that he had had no contact with the two men from a young age as he had grown up with his mother and his sister.