Over the past few days, the line in Italy has been that Inter Milan had overtaken AS Roma in the race to sign West Ham United’s Gianluca Scamacca.
A deal seemed just a few days away, but now, according to Goal Italia, Atalanta have joined the battle, and might have even overtaken their rivals.
The website state that after the sale of Rasmus Højlund, the Bergamo side want to ‘complete the attack’ with the West Ham striker, and now appear to be the team ‘closest’ to signing him.
They have already bought El Bilal Touré from Almeria to compensate for the exit of Jérémie Boga, and with Højlund now in Manchester, they want another forward.
Goal Italia state that Atalanta would have ‘prepared an offer’ to West Ham that includes Merih Demiral, whom they want out.
Whether this is something West Ham would be ready to accept remains to be seen, but it’s certainly an enticing offer, all depending on how rated Demiral is at London Stadium.
However, and it’s a big one, Calciomercato.it have their own take on the matter, and it’s made clear that despite Atalanta being the ‘closest’, the Turkish centre-back is not part of the deal.
That’s because he, were he to leave Atalanta, only wants to move to Inter, and seemingly isn’t keen on playing for West Ham.
They then bring more information about what the San Siro club offered the Hammers when they tried to sign Scamacca themselves, and that was €12m + Joaquin Correa.
This was reportedly ‘promptly rejected’ by West Ham, and with Inter reportedly ‘unable to reach the cash part’ requested by the Premier League club, it’s an ‘uphill battle’ for them.
Hence why Atalanta are now in the lead, with or without Demiral in the deal, as they have the money coming in from the Rasmus Højlund deal.
