Italy international Gianluca Scamacca admits it was ‘a dream to play in the Premier League’ after joining West Ham United. ‘It’s the perfect team for me.’
The centre-forward made the transfer from Sassuolo at a fee of €36m plus €6m in add-ons and a 10 per cent cut of any future transfer fee, all of which was confirmed by Neroverdi director of sport Giovanni Carnevali.
That translates to £30.27m plus £5.04m in bonuses.
“I am really excited to join West Ham,” Scamacca told WHUFC.com.
“I’ve waited a long time for this moment – it’s been a dream to play in the Premier League.”
He had been on the verge of joining Paris Saint-Germain, but the Hammers out-bid their €30m plus €5m bonuses proposal.
The Premier League is also arguably suited to Scamacca, who has been compared to his hero Zlatan Ibrahimovic and stands at 1.95m tall.
“I feel like West Ham is the perfect team for me. They showed they really wanted me and when I spoke to the manager there was an instant understanding.
“I can’t wait to play and show the supporters what I can do in the West Ham shirt – I hope we will love each other.”
There was a bit of a hiccup with his presentation, as West Ham unveiled a video using the classic 1990s Football Italia intro, only to spell his name Scammaca throughout.
West Ham have been seeking a new striker for a couple of seasons, so 23-year-old Scamacca fits the bill, having scored 16 goals in 36 Serie A games for Sassuolo last season.
“We’ve been looking to add more strength to our attacking options for a while, so we’re delighted to have got Gianluca in,” said manager David Moyes.
“He comes really well recommended – and we’re looking forward to working with him. He’s a young centre-forward with a really bright future ahead of him.”
Scamacca is from Rome and spent time in both the Lazio and Roma youth academies before moving to PSV Eindhoven at the age of 16 in January 2015.
He was sold to Sassuolo in January 2017 for €500,000, but PSV are owed 10 per cent of the sale fee that West Ham paid.
There were loan spells at Cremonese, PEC Zwolle, Ascoli and Genoa.