Gianluca Scamacca: Italy and West Ham's new Talisman?
West Ham have agreed a £30.5m deal for the Italy and Sassuolo striker, but who is the 6ft 5 player, and what can he give the Hammers going forward?
Gianluca Scamacca has been a rather unknown entity for some time, until the 2021-22 season, where along with fellow Italian, Domenico Berardi, formed a formidable front line for Sassuolo, with the former bagging 16 Serie A goals, as both players made their way in the Italy National Team.
Roman Beginnings
Scamacca was born in Rome, it was at Lazio where he began his youth career. From the beginning, the striker excelled, playing with higher age groups, and of course, with excelling, comes the bigger sharks. Lazio would lose him to rivals Roma, as Scamacca grew up a Roma fan, and dreamed of “being like Gabriel Batistuta”.
Roma would win the national title, with Scamacca’s age group in his time with the Giallorossi, the forward contribute just the 34 goals in 30 games that campaign. Once again, the sharks swarmed, with Dutch giants, PSV, were the ones to get hold of the Italian, the first to join the club in their history.
By this point in his career, the young striker was well known in his homeland, being lauded as the next great frontman to have grown up on the streets of Rome, but could he make it abroad? Could he propel himself to stardom?
When Scamacca left Italy, it was understandable, the lure of a top club and the state of Italian football. The Azzurri had just been eliminated in the group stages, at back to back World Cups and at just 23, players such as Mario Balotelli, were being credited with having failed International careers.
Despite the hype of the Italian making the move to PSV, he failed to ever break into the first-team, spending most of his two years with the club, in the team’s youth setup.
Taking the chance
In 2017, Scamacca would return to Italy with Sassuolo. Firstly he was brought in to supersize the teams Under-19 side, during which time the striker had two dubious loans at Cremonese and PEC Zwolle, but he continued to impress within the International ranks, scoring profusely.
The 2021-22 marked a breakthrough season for the Italy International, after two, more successful loans in Serie B and Serie A, Sassuolo and Alessio Dionisi decided to take a chance on the star within the first team. Dionisi had a tough job when taking over, but gained a lot of plaudits early-on, for trusting players and in particular, Scamacca.
His faith would be repaid, as the forward hit double figures for the season, with Italy Manager Roberto Mancini stating Scamacca could become the complete front man.
“Scamacca has everything it takes to become a complete centre-forward,” Mancini said. “He scores all kinds of goals: headers, goals from distance, close-range finishes. He’s powerful and skilful. I had a long chat with him at our recent camp and told him how far he can go.”
The player has been touted by teams at the top of the football pyramid, but with teams like Juventus and Liverpool filling their centre-forward sized issues, it has allowed him to fall to the wider market, and it appears as though West Ham have one the race for his signature.
What does he bring to England?
Standing at 6ft 5, Scamacca has the four S’s - Size, speed, shooting and skill. He is also a player that’s in need of a good start to next season, and a move could be exactly what’s needed to propel him into the Italy World Cup squad.
The player is very strong in the air, and wins several aerial duels per game, is most comfortable in and around the box, but still has the quality to drop deep and collect the ball. His hold up play is rather raw, but what Scamacca lacks there, he more than makes up for with his finishing.
Scamacca certainly has the attributes to fit into David Moyes’s side, he has the strength and size to pick up passes from West Ham’s back line, and the pace and power to break into the box and pick up the supply from wide players like Jarrod Bowen and Pablo Fornals.
It could quite honestly be a make or break move for a once highly-thought of striker, and it is always impossible to predict how players transition to the physicality and pace of the Premier League. None the less, this is an exciting player at just 23, who, should he find his feet, be a blessing for not just Hammers fans, but football fans across Italy.
