Over the summer, West Ham United were in need of a new central midfielder, scouring the market for the right man.
The Hammers found a number of candidates, and tried to sign them at different times, eventually settling on Lyon’s Lucas Paqueta.
However, before the Brazilian arrived at West Ham, David Moyes wanted Piotr Zielinski from Napoli, and offers were made to try and convince the Serie A side to sell.
The problem for the Premier League side was that, with Napoli in the Champions League, the Poland international wasn’t overly keen, and nor were his club.
He has since been shining under Luciano Spalletti, but his contract in the south Italy expires in June of 2024, meaning there is worry growing about his future.
Gazzetta dello Sport cover the situation on Wednesday, making it clear the Pole ‘is doing very well in Naples’, with his wife, son and dog, and that’s why there has never been an urge from the family to push for a move to England.
The newspaper allude to West Ham’s interest without naming them, recalling the Premier League came knocking in both ‘the recent past and even in the remote one’.
That being said, with his contract where it currently is, Zielinski ‘would like to dictate’ what his future is made of, because ‘it would be the last important contract of his career’.
Therefore, something will need to be organised with Napoli, where the owner, Aurelio De Laurentiis, ‘is always very careful not to increase the wages of his players’.
That’s why it will be down to Cristiano Giuntoli, the director of sport, who will have the ‘mission to devote himself to the matter’ to find a common ground with Zielinski about staying.
However, ‘if the renewal does not arrive before the summer’, the Poland international ‘will end up on the market’, giving West Ham a second chance to get their man if they still want him.
