Gianluca Scamacca was taken off at half-time during Atalanta's 2-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the first-leg of their Champions League playoff last night. However, the former West Ham United striker is in line for a new deal at the Serie A side.
The transfer expert Nicolo Schira posted on X: "Atalanta are planning to extend Gianluca Scamacca’s contract, which currently expires in 2027."
Scamacca has become a key player for Atlanta since he joined them from West Ham in 2023. He has scored 28 goals with 11 assists in 70 games for the Italian side. He also won the Europa League with them, where he set up one of Ademola Lookman's goals as the Nigerian scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen.
The Europa League is not the only continental tournament that Scamacca has won. He was part of the West Ham side that lifted the Europa Conference League. However, he only featured up to the last 16 of that tournament due to knee surgery.
Where did it go wrong for Gianluca Scamacca at West Ham?
It was considered a coup for West Ham to sign Scamacca from Sassuolo in 2022. He was being linked with some top European clubs, including Paris Saint-Germain, at the time. However, due to his knee problem, he only made 27 appearances for the Hammers, where he scored eight times without making an assist.
Scamacca is not alone in being a striker who has gone on to better things after leaving West Ham. Sébastien Haller went on to be prolific for Ajax after leaving the London Stadium. This earned him a move to Borussia Dortmund, and he is now playing for Utrecht.
Taty Castellanos is West Ham's current great hope to become a proven goalscorer at the club. The Argentine has two goals in eight games for the East London side. Pablo, who also joined the Hammers in January, may have already fallen victim to the curse of the club's strikers, as he is already injured. Callum Wilson is now 33, but could continue to play an important role for Nuno Espirito Santo's team.