Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has heaped praise on a player West Ham United sold last year.
David Moyes‘ men are hard at work ahead of their big game against Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League later today.
The Hammers are 2-0 down from the first leg, and nobody is really expecting them to turn it around against Xabi Alonso‘s side, who were crowned as the German champions just a few days ago.
West Ham need all the help they can get today, and one player who they sold last year could’ve perhaps made a huge difference if he was available now.
Klopp has raved about him after admitting that he didn’t really know much about the former West Ham man.
Jurgen Klopp makes claim about Gianluca Scamacca at West Ham United
West Ham United signed Gianluca Scamacca from Sassuolo in a £35.5 million deal in 2022 (Sky Sports).
The Italian came in with a lot of hype, and many felt he would solve the woes the Hammers had at the top end of the pitch at the time.
Scamacca didn’t perfectly suit David Moyes’ style, but he still managed to score a few goals. He found the net eight times in 16 starts, but unfortunately for him, he suffered a knee injury in January that ruled him out for the rest of the season.
Last summer, Atalanta came in for Scamacca and West Ham agreed to sell him after just one season at the club. He made the move to Bergamo in a deal worth £27 million (Mail).
Scamacca has become a star again in Italy at Atalanta. He has scored 14 goals already this season, including a brace at Anfield against Liverpool last week.
Ahead of the second leg today, Jurgen Klopp had his say on Scamacca. The German claims that he didn’t really know the Italian when he first joined West Ham, but admitted that he liked him soon after.
He said, as per Liverpool’s official website: “He was exceptional against us. He was really, really good – in England we say he was a ‘handful’! He is difficult to play against, great in the air and great on the floor.
“I liked him when he was at West Ham, I didn’t know him too well when he came to West Ham. It didn’t work out there 100 per cent but that can happen because the Premier League is a difficult league to play but you can see he has great quality.
“I don’t know now all the other Italian strikers, to be honest, to compare them – well, I know them all but I don’t know who is in contention to be the No.9 for Italy and who is not. But, for a specific way of playing, I would say he is a fantastic option.
“He is a real focus player, he can bring the ball down, gives you time to push up, is a threat in the box, has speed as well: that’s a really interesting package. Yes, he made a big difference in that game but we didn’t make it too difficult for him as well, so we should make it a little bit more difficult tomorrow.”
What Declan Rice once said about Gianluca Scamacca
Gianluca Scamacca was very highly rated in Italy when West Ham United signed him in 2022.
The Italian is a very good player. Many people were impressed when the Hammers secured a deal to sign him, but it just didn’t work out for him as well as he would’ve liked.
However, Scamacca did earn the respect of his teammates at West Ham when he was there, especially Declan Rice, who publicly claimed he was blown away by his finishing.
The Arsenal man said in October 2022: “Gianluca’s got one of the best strikes of a ball I’ve ever seen in training. It’s crazy.
“So, when that hit his foot, and just went into the top corner there was no surprise there.”