The last thing that David Moyes and West Ham need at present are injuries to first-team stars, particularly when it means surgery is required.
With nine games left of their 2022/23 Premier League season, the Scot needs and ‘all hands to the pump’ mentality from his entire squad.
Just three points separate the east Londoners from the drop zone, and though there are other teams below them in worse current form, the Hammers can’t be too complacent.
Indeed, we can expect to see the bottom of the table change fairly dramatically each week given that only six points separate Crystal Palace in 12th and third-from-bottom Nottingham Forest.
Though he’s not been counted on too much by Moyes this season, Gianluca Scamacca’s talent seems abundantly clear.
Perhaps the issue is that the Scot doesn’t play his striker in a role that best showcases that talent, and would go some way to explaining why a player who was excellent for Sassuolo – tempting the Hammers to pay out £35.5m in the process per Sky Sports – has only managed four goals in 27 appearances for the east Londoners per WhoScored.
David Moyes has confirmed that Scamacca will undergo knee surgery.
Wishing you a speedy recovery, Gianluca! ????#WHUFC | #TalkingPoint with @LycamobileUK pic.twitter.com/HWFPjuqo4j
— West Ham United (@WestHam) April 14, 2023
It now seems likely that the towering Italian won’t get the opportunity to shine again in the claret and blue this season, after David Moyes confirmed in his pre-match press conference for the Arsenal game that Scamacca now requires knee surgery.
Could we even have seen the last of the player in a West Ham shirt already?