Club chief admits he was forced into selling player to West Ham – Would have liked him to stay in country

Sassuolo would have preferred to sell striker Gianluca Scamacca to an Italian club this summer, rather than West Ham United.

That’s according to their director of football Giovanni Carnevali, who has revealed there were zero offers from Serie A for the striker.

Scamacca joined West Ham in a €36m deal this summer, with David Moyes spending big to sign serious competition for Michail Antonio.

It is the striker’s first experience outside of Italy after two unsuccessful spells in the Netherlands, where he struggled with PSV’s youth set up and during a loan spell with PEC Zwolle.

He was one of the stars of the show at Sassuolo last season, though, scoring 16 goals and registering one assist in 38 games in all competitions last season.

It was those numbers that convinced West Ham to pay big for him in the summer but is Carnevalli had his way he’d have been sending the striker to another club in Italy.

“For Scamacca, zero offers from Italy,” Calciomercato report him saying.

“I would have liked to see him again in our league, he is a young man, and he is in the national team. However, the market value was high, and, in our country, the economic situation is difficult.

“Fortunately, there are Premier League clubs who can afford him. We are satisfied with this transfer.”