Both in need of attacking reinforcements, Newcastle and West Ham have, over the weekend, started being linked with Mattia Destro.
The Bologna striker, who has yet to find the back of the net this season, is looking for a landing spot to get some extra game time, with his agent allegedly travelling to England over the weekend to hear out both the Magpies and the Hammers.
Capped eight times by Italy, the 27-year-old has proven in the past he can be a prolific striker if assisted appropriately, once bagging 13 goals in 20 league games for Roma back in 2013-14.
However, Federico Santander’s arrival from FC Copenhagen over the summer has seen his time on the pitch reduced, hence this search for football elsewhere.
Gazzetta dello Sport on Monday explain neither Newcastle nor West Ham have made any move beyond the initial interest (no ‘acceleration’, as they put it), suggesting the pair are just weighing up their options for the moment.
This comes after the Hammers were said to be making last minute attempts to sign Krzysztof Piatek from Genoa from under Milan’s nose, to no avail.
Going from Piatek to Destro is quite the leap, if you ask us, and not in an ambitious way.
However, if he fits what Manuel Pellegrini and Rafa Benitez (who already has Salomon Rondon and Yoshinori Muto at his disposal) are looking for, who are we to argue?
They’re the Premier League managers.
