Eighteen months after letting Sebastien Haller leave the London Stadium, West Ham United have found a replacement for the Ivorian.
Gianluca Scamacca has joined the Hammers from Sassuolo, with the club confirming a five-year deal for the Italian. Scamacca scored 16 goals in Serie A last season, with only five players bettering the tally, and outscored the likes of Premier League target Victor Osimhen and former West Ham favourite Marko Arnautovic.
David Moyes' side will be playing Europa Conference League football this season, having fallen two games short of glory in the Europa League and therefore missed out on Champions League qualification. There have been fears that a lack of ambition could hinder the club's hopes of keeping hold of Declan Rice amid interest from Manchester United and Chelsea, and there's a sense the club knows how big this summer might be.
“I feel like West Ham is the perfect team for me," Scamacca said upon joining. "They showed they really wanted me and when I spoke to the manager there was an instant understanding."
The 6'5" frontman has taken the number seven shirt previously worn by Andriy Yarmolenko. Manager David Moyes spoke of the new arrival's "bright future," and the move comes at a moment when Rice will be looking to kick on with a strong team around him despite speculation over his own future.
"I've never once complained, every time I put on the shirt I go out there and give it one hundred per cent and whatever happens off the pitch takes care of itself," Rice told Sky Sports earlier in the window. "I can't control that - what I can control is going out there and trying to be the best player.
"It's annoying (speculation) because of the numbers that get attached to your name. You can't control that at all but there's stuff sometimes that you see and you read that you don't want to hear, because it's not really true in a way.
"All I can do is go out on the pitch and play football and be happy. For the last couple of seasons that's what I've done and that's the faith the manager has put in me, so all that speculation stuff, that's what comes with playing good, I suppose."
Where will West Ham finish this season? Have your say in the comments section
West Ham spent a large portion of the 2021-22 season in the top four, remaining in the Champions League spots as late as February. However, with European responsibilities catching up on Moyes' side, they faltered to a seventh-place finish after winning just one of their final seven games.
The London side had already made a number of signings before completing the deal for Scamacca, with Alphonse Areola making his loan from Paris Saint-Germain permanent and Nayef Aguerd and Flynn Downes also joining. However, attack is the key area where fans have been crying out for investment.
Haller, who arrived at significant cost from Eintracht Frankfurt in 2019, was the latest in a long line of attacking misfires, but the failure to reinvest was also a concern. By adding Scamacca, a man coming off a breakthrough season and with room to kick on in his career, there will be excitement ahead of the league opener against Manchester City.
Declan Rice is now officially club captain, with Mark Noble's retirement allowing him to formally take over a role he held on the pitch for much of last season. His role on and off the field will be significant as he looks to show more of the kind of form which prompted West Ham to slap a price tag north of £100m on the England midfielder.
The thing is, if he is a £100m+ player as West Ham insist, questions will be asked if he continues to stick out like a sore thumb in a far less expensively-assembled group. With Scamacca arriving, and continued noise over moves for the likes of Filip Kostic and Piotr Zielinski among others, at least one step has been taken towards giving Rice what he needs if he's to fulfil his potential without needing to leave east London.
