West Ham to send Zaza to Napoli in January
Simone Zaza’s situation at West Ham is murky at best, but it appears it could be about to clear itself up.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, via talkSPORT, West Ham are planning on signing the Juventus striker on a permanent basis in January before selling immediately to Napoli.
West Ham paid £5m to the Serie A champions to take the Italian international striker on a season-long loan in a deal which included an obligatory buy-option of £20m if he made 10 appearances.
So far, Zaza has made nine appearances for the Hammers without scoring and has not looked anything like a £20m striker through three months of the season.
Given the way the deal was structured, the Hammers will be forced to pay £20m and sign the 25-year-old on a permanent basis if he makes one more appearance for the club.
However, they may have found an ‘out’ so to speak, with Napoli keen on bringing Zaza back to Italy in January.
Napoli attempted to sign Zaza in the summer but couldn’t agree on a deal, and now, given their tarnished relationship with Juventus, have contacted Zaza and West Ham over a January switch.
It’s not stated how much the transfer will be worth between the Hammers and Napoli but it’s evident that West Ham are not keen on signing Zaza on a permanent basis and are actively searching for ways they can get around the deal.