David Moyes has officially announced that Gianluca Scamacca will not make any further appearances this season, but he anticipates the striker to be fit and ready for the beginning of West Ham’s pre-season, writes the Evening Standard.
Scamacca, who was signed for £30.5 million from Sassuolo last summer, has encountered a challenging debut season in English football, scoring only three goals in the Premier League and struggling with injuries. The 24-year-old has been absent from the Hammers’ squad since the Europa Conference League last-16 match against AEK Larnaca in March and has recently undergone knee surgery.
Earlier, Moyes had hinted that Scamacca might still have a chance of recovering in time to participate in the final in Prague next month. However, speaking before West Ham’s final league game of the season against Leicester, Moyes confirmed that the forward’s campaign has come to an end.
Moyes said of Scamacca’s chances of making the final: “I see him being nowhere near it. He’s not back training and not back [in London]. He’s still doing his rehab in Italy just now, so I don’t expect to see him back before then, no.”
“I don’t think he’s too far away now, but not quite close enough. He had his operation about four weeks ago, so he has still a few weeks of rehab to do but hopefully, he will be back ready at the start of pre-season.”