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Gianluca Scamacca has revealed Roberto Mancini was influential in his decision to leave Sassuolo for West Ham, with the Italy head coach believing a Premier League move was best for his development.
Scamacca, who had been linked with the likes of Paris Saint-Germain earlier in the transfer window, signed a five-year contract with the option of an extra 12 months at the London Stadium on Tuesday.
West Ham have reportedly agreed to pay an initial £30.5million (€36m) for the towering centre-forward, who scored 16 Serie A goals for Sassuolo last term.
Among players to have scored 15 or more goals in a top-five European league in 2021-22, only three were younger than 23-year-old Scamacca, namely Erling Haaland (22 goals), Vinicius Junior (17) and Dusan Vlahovic (24).
Scamacca’s form with the Neroverdi led to him breaking into Mancini’s Italy squad, making seven appearances for the Azzurri since his debut last year.
The striker made UEFA Nations League starts against Germany and England in June as Mancini looked to remould Italy’s attack in the wake of their failure to reach the Qatar World Cup.
After making his move to east London, Scamacca revealed he had discussed his future with Manchester City’s 2011-12 title-winning boss.
“We spoke before I came here, and he said it was the best place for me,” Scamacca told West Ham’s website.
“[He wanted me] playing in a tournament that would help me to get better and improve, because the Premier League is the best league.”
Scamacca could make his Premier League debut when West Ham face Mancini’s former side at the London Stadium on August 7.
