Only two years ago, West Ham signed Gianluca Scamacca from Serie A club Sassuolo for £30 million. Eight goals followed in the Italian's first season after that the Hammers cut their losses on Scamacca, selling him for around £25 million to Atalanta where he is thriving currently. And this year also, it seems that a Serie A striker is on the radar of West Ham.
West Ham linked with a move for another Serie A striker
According to Tuttosport, Juventus centre-forward, Arkadiusz Milik is one of the candidates considered by the Hammers for the striker role. The 30-year-old forward, who bagged eight goals for Juventus last season as a backup to Dusan Vlahovic is gaining interest from several European clubs.
The Polish international has scored 178 goals in his career for club and country as well. The former Napoli star joined Juventus in 2022 and has been a reliable cover option behind Vlahovic. His physicality, aerial prowess and finishing makes him a very similar profile striker to Hammers' favourite, Marko Arnautovic.
Despite an already ageing squad left by former manager, David Moyes, the 30-year-old's athleticism and work ethic makes him suitable to give 1-2 brilliant years at West Ham. Currently, the Hammers see Aston Villa star, Jhon Duran as an ideal number nine for the present and future. The 2023/24 season clearly displayed that veteran striker Danny Ings and long serving Hammers star, Michail Antonio's prime form in the Premier League are behind them.
The striker position has been a struggle for West Ham in the last five years with record signings, Sebastien Haller and Gianluca Scamacca failing to justify their hefty transfer fee. Hence, a better option for Julen Lopetegui's side will be to sign both Milik and Duran. The Polish striker has a contract until 2026 and the report claims, Juventus want a fee of around £5 million to part ways with Milik.
With less than four weeks left before the 2024/25 Premier League season kicks off, West Ham need to speed up their transfer activity to further boost their top six ambitions. And Tim Steidten and the board appear to be doing so as the Hammers have increased their efforts to land a new right-back for the 2024/25 Premier League season.