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All you need to know about potential new West Ham signing Gianluca Scamacca - the next Ibrahimovic?

Gianluca Scamacca Italy

After taking Serie A by storm, 23-year-old Gianluca Scamacca has caught the eye of top clubs around Europe, with West Ham having reportedly agreed a £35.5million deal.

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

It is a comparison the young Sassuolo striker is comfortable with, but he maintains he is his own man. "Being likened to such a champion is only nice. But I have my way, my way of playing," he said.
Planet Sport highlights that way of playing and brings you everything else you need to know about the 23-year-old Italian.

Gianluca Scamacca's career so far

Scamacca's youth career began over 13 years ago when he joined up with Lazio as a 10-year old.
He spent six years in the Italian capital, making the switch 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.
"With us, the development of Gianluca did not go as we envisioned", admitted PSV technical manager Marcel Brands after the move.
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 the campaign.
On September 8, 2021 he became an Italian international when he was called up for the World Cup qualifiers, coming off the bench in a 5-0 win against Lithuania.

Gianluca Scamacca's style of play

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.
It also comes as no surprise that Scamacca's hold-up play is a key aspect of his game due to his stature, and his missile of a right foot has often left goalkeepers with their arms flailing.
Ironically, 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.

Father and grandfather incidents

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.

Possible destinations

After losing out on Dusan Vlahovic to Juventus in January, both Arsenal and Tottenham have taken a closer look at the Sassuolo star.

Inter have reportedly held talks with Scamacca's representatives over a possible move to the Italian giants. Scamacca gave a muted celebration after scoring against Inter in February 2022, stirring up rumours of a possible move. However, the striker insists he did not celebrate because he thought he was offside.

Now, West Ham have emerged as favourites to land the 23-year-old, with reports claiming the Hammers have had a £35.5million bid accepted.

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