Internacional are in the picture to sign West Ham United’s Luizão this summer, according to journalist Marinho Saldanha, relayed by Bolavip Brasil.
The centre-back left São Paulo for West Ham in January 2023 and they initially included him in their U21 squad.
West Ham didn’t then feel they’d seen enough to promote Luizão to their first team and Internacional wanted to bring him back to Brazil in the winter market.
In December, Globo Esporte reported on the Brazilian club’s approach, an approach which wasn’t successful. The Hammers instead let the 23-year-old join Polish side Pogoń Szczecin on loan.
Saldanha says the West Ham player is analysing his next step. Internacional are looking for a new defender and the former São Paulo man is back on their agenda.
The journalist claims West Ham are unwilling to let Luizão return to Brazil and are looking for a club in Europe. This is the ‘main obstacle’ for Internacional to sign him.
It’s been more than two years since the South American joined the Premier League club and he’s yet to make his debut for their senior team. UOL had a chat with him, where he opened up about his struggles at West Ham.
Luizão said: “My first six months would be spent adapting to the team and the country, so I would stay on the U21 team and participate in some training sessions with the main team, and then, after that period, I would go straight to the main team.
“But when those six months were over, the main team coach had some difficulty working with young players and I stayed on the U21 team.”
Since Luizão joined West Ham, David Moyes, Julen Lopetegui and Potter have been their first team managers. He has blamed the trio for not trusting him.
“In the U21s, I was a starter, and the coach always praised me in training. He tried to get me to play in the first team, saying that I was ready to move up, but unfortunately, I got first-team coaches who didn’t like using young players,” Luizão explained.
“In the Premier League, since clubs have a lot of money, they end up buying ready-made players instead of preparing the younger ones.”
