West Ham striker’s father clarifies a few things, ready to ‘listen’ if anyone contacts him about January transfer

Another day, and another twist in the Simone Zaza saga.

The West Ham striker, who is yet to find the back of the net, has become a very important target for Napoli in Serie A since Arkadiusz Milik’s injury, and his father is now opening doors left, right and centre for a move.

Of course, a lot rests on the Hammers’ decision whether to play him enough to activate the buyout clause in his loan deal from Juventus, but at the rate things are going, it looks like they might.

Speaking to Corriere dello Sport on Friday, Zaza’s dad, Antonio, admitted that a move to last season’s Serie A runners-up might be too good to refuse. 

He said: “Napoli is Napoli, if they call, I’ll listen.”

Zaza senior also clarified something that had been bugging the Italian press for a while now: the number of appearances needed before his son’s loan becomes a permanent transfer.

He explained: “Yes, the transfer comes down to the amount of appearances Simone makes: he needs to play 14 times, he’s currently at nine.”

He also backed his son to succeed, with his current lack of goals down caused by an ‘adaptation period’ in ‘another world’.

However, Antonio Zaza also made it clear he hadn’t been contacted by anyone.

Yet.