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Making his last appearance for West Ham on the 30th of November in a 4-1 loss to Manchester United in the EFL Cup, Simone Zaza wasn’t even on the bench against Liverpool at the weekend.

With Slaven Bilic’s men picking up a well-earned 2-2 draw, the Hammers will have gone home feeling better about their prospects if such gritty performances can be reproduced, but the striker position remains a big question mark.

Starting right-winger/right-back Michail Antonio up front against the Reds, West Ham have now, according to Il Mattino, made it clear they will not be making Simone Zaza’s loan from Juventus permanent, which could work in Napoli’s favour.

The Italian, who hasn’t scored a goal in 11 appearances, could therefore return to Italy in January, and with the Serie A outfit looking to get rid of Manolo Gabbiadini in the process, Zaza remains a likely target.

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Il Mattino say the move could be a ‘surprise’, but if you’ve followed their coverage of the whole thing, you’ll know it’s anything but, with the Naples based newspaper pushing for a deal to happen ever since Arkadiusz Milik’s injury.

The only issue remains the player’s wages, which, at €3.5m/year, remain a bit excessive for Napoli, but were the player to accept a reduced salary, then all could fall into place.

We’re bored of this, and so are you, we know it, but they’ve got one thing right.

Zaza’s time in the Premier League is most likely coming to an end, let’s be honest.