What is the next number in the sequence: 10, 14, 15…?
If you hadn’t already guessed, this is the number of appearances Simone Zaza allegedly needs to make for West Ham before his loan from Juventus to the London stadium becomes permanent.
Unused by Slaven Bilic in the last two league games, the Italian striker, who is still without a goal for the Hammers, seems to be quickly falling out of favour, especially with Andy Carroll’s return to the squad against Arsenal on Saturday.
Since the clause in the loan deal was first reported, the number of appearances appears to have been gradually increasing in the Italian media, almost as if they’re trying to delay it.
Furthermore, most of the claims seem to be coming from the player’s agent, who also happens to be his father, someone you would expect to know the details in his son’s contract with West Ham.
On the 9th of November, Il Mattino, who are a newspaper very close to Napoli, reported the Italy international needed to make 14 appearances before triggering the clause, a figure Antonio Zaza confirmed two days later to the very same newspaper.
He said: “Yes, the transfer comes down to the amount of appearances Simone makes: he needs to play 14 times, he’s currently at nine.”
So, in the space of a month, even the player’s father appears to not know how many appearances Simone needs to make before the loan becomes a full transfer.
Why are we doing this now, you may be asking yourself? Well, it’s apparently changed again, according to Il Mattino on Monday.
In an article looking (as they do every day) at the potential striker targets Napoli are looking at for the January window, the Italian newspaper now claim Simone Zaza needs to make 15 Premier League appearances before triggering the clause.
Considering the player is on 11 appearances in all competitions, he would have previously only been three appearances away from triggering the clause.
However, with this new reported change, West Ham have a bit more wiggle room, with Zaza only on eight Premier League appearances so far.
This clause is ever changing, and it appears no one really knows what’s going on behind the scenes.
Not even Zaza’s agent.
That, or West Ham are somehow convincing Juventus to give them more time to make a decision.
