Gianluca Scamacca Profile

Gianluca Scamacca stands at 6ft 5in, with his build, work rate and striking prowess seeing him dubbed as 'the next Zlatan Ibrahmovic'.

Gianluca Scamacca is an Italian international striker who plays for Serie A side Atalanta.

It needs just one look at Gianluca Scamacca to understand why he has been likened to Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Standing at 6ft 5in, he is, like his Swedish counterpart, covered in tattoos.

A real nuisance for defenders, Scamacca has also shown proficiency in creating chances as well as scoring them. During his season with Genoa, Scamacca was averaging 1.8 shot-creating actions per 90, higher than Serie A stars Dusan Vlahovic and Rafael Leao.

After a successful season in Serie A with Sassuolo, Scamacca made a big money move to the Premier League with West Ham.

But he only lasted one season in England after a miserable stint in East London, where he started only 16 times for the club.

In August 2023, he returned to Italy to join Atalanta for a reported fee of £22m.

Scamacca's early career

Scamacca's youth career began in 2009 when he joined up with Lazio as a 10-year-old.

He spent six years in the Italian capital, making the switch across the city to Roma halfway through his time there.

He became the shining light of Roma's youth academy and unsurprisingly attracted interest from top clubs, with Liverpool said to have been interested.

However, he chose to snub the Premier League and join Dutch side PSV, deciding to trust the youth system and follow in the footsteps of other Eredivisie products like Christian Eriksen.

He made three appearances for PSV's reserve side before moving back to Italy in 2017 with Sassuolo.

Eventual breakthrough at Sassuolo

After failing to impress during three cameos in the Serie A, he spent the remainder of the 2017/18 season on loan with Cremonese in Serie B, finding the net once in 14 appearances.

Scamacca returned to the Netherlands with PEC Zwolle on loan but struggled to make an impact.

Upon his return to Italy, the young striker was given a chance to impress at a lower level with Serie B side Ascoli.

He finished the season on 13 goals and then made the step up to Serie A courtesy of a loan move to Genoa. There he bagged 12 in all competitions, maintaining a minutes-per-goal ratio of 104.

After only three appearances for Sassuolo in four years, the rising star was finally given a chance for his parent club.

New head coach Alessio Dionisi put his faith in Scamacca after the previous no.9, Francesco Caputo, left Sassuolo for Sampdoria in the summer.

The young Italian rewarded his coach for that decision, reaching double figures for goals halfway through the season on his way to 16 for in the 2021/22 season.

One of Scamacca's standout games came against Ibrahimovic, with the Italian scoring a brace as Sassuolo won 3-1, the first of which cannoned off the underside of the bar in true Zlatan fashion.

Scamacca in the Premier League

Afer impressing in Serie A, Scamacca joined West Ham United on a five-year contract with an option for a further year, in a deal worth around £35million.

"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," he said after he joined the London club.

But his stint in England only lasted one season.

He made his Premier League debut as a substitute in a 2-0 home defeat by Manchester City on August 7, 2022 and scored his first goal in a 3-1 Europa Conference League victory over Viborg 11 days later.

However, he started only 16 times for the club during his season in England and in August 2023 joined Serie A side Atalanta for a fee of around £22m.

"The centre-forward spent a single season at London Stadium and scored eight goals in 27 appearances, including five in the Hammers' run to lifting the UEFA Europa Conference League," said a statement on West Ham's official website.

"West Ham United would like to thank Gianluca for his efforts and wish him well for his future career."

Becoming an Italian international

Scamacca played for the Italian national side at every level from under-17 to under-21, and on September 8, 2021 he gained his first full cap he was called up for the World Cup qualifiers, coming off the bench in a 5-0 win against Lithuania.

Scamacca personal life

Scamacca is yet to reveal if he is in a relationship.

In May 2021, Scamacca's father was arrested after breaking into Roma's training ground armed with an iron bar.

Scamacca Sr. was spotted vandalising vehicles in the training ground car park while wearing a Sassuolo sweatshirt.

Then in December 2021, Scamacca again had to distance himself from the "violent and unspeakable episodes committed by people linked to my surname" after his grandfather was arrested for putting a knife to a client's throat in a bar in Rome.

Scamacca stressed he had been estranged from his father and his father's side of the family from a young age, growing up with his mother and his sister.

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