Brighton and Hove Albion manager Robert De Zerbi has backed West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca to succeed in English football after a mixed start to life at the London Stadium.
The 24-year-old has scored seven times since his £30.5million arrival in the summer, but has struggled for minutes in recent weeks, making his first appearance as a late substitute in over a month during Wednesday’s FA Cup defeat to Manchester United.
Scamacca has played 25 times in all competitions for the Hammers this season, but of his seven goals, just three have come in the Premier League, with the other four coming in the Europa Conference League.
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One man who knows Scamacca better than most is Brighton’s current manager De Zerbi. The Italian was Sassulo’s manager for three years between July 2018 and May 2021, with Scamacca coming up through the ranks during the 43-year-old’s tenure.
Scamacca was named as a substitute ten times by De Zerbi in Serie A, although Scamacca did not make a single appearance for the club under De Zerbi, leaving on loan to Dutch side PEC Zwolle, Serie B outfit Ascoli and fellow top-flight team Genoa, with Scamacca’s breakthrough coming after De Zerbi’s exit.
Despite never giving him a single minute, De Zerbi rates Scamacca and says that he has great potential to succeed.
“I think he has a very, very important potential. It is difficult for Italian players to play in another country in the beginning. It was always like this and for him I think was difficult. The first period is still difficult but if we are speaking about the potential, the quality - he has great potential and he is a good guy. I worked with him not too much time because we had Caputo, we had Raspadori, we had [another striker] but I knew very well the quality of Scamacca.”
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