West Ham United boss David Moyes opted not to hand summer signing Gianluca Scamacca a Hammers debut during their final friendly of pre-season against Lens on Saturday.
Scamacca signed for the Irons and became the club’s fourth acquisition of the summer last week in a deal reportedly worth around £30.5million, with Moyes’ men ending pre-season in France where they were held to a goalless draw by the Ligue 1 outfit.
However, the Italian was one of a number of players who missed out for the Irons in the game, with Michail Antonio, Issa Diop, Nayef Aguerd, and Aaron Cresswell all missing the tie, while Angelo Ogbonna played the club’s under-21s against Dagenham and Redbridge.
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Speaking after the game, first team coach Paul Nevin explained that Scamacca was left at Rush Green to continue his preparations ahead of the upcoming season which starts against Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday.
“The work he’s done this week has been fantastic and we kept him at Rush Green to continue his pre-season while we had this game, in light of trying to prepare him as quickly as we can,” Nevin told West Ham’s club website following Scamacca’s absence from the trip to France.
The 23-year-old scored 16 times in Serie A for last season in his first full campaign in Sassuolo’s first-team, having also made seven appearances for the Italian national side.
His arrival takes the Hammers’ summer spending to over £80m, with the club also signing Alphonse Areola, Flynn Downes, and Aguerd.
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