Simone Zaza to leave West Ham in january

Simone Zaza will have his season-long loan with West Ham terminated in January and the striker will be returning to Juventus, according to his agent.

West Ham were looking for a marquee striker signing in the summer and having missed out on Alexandre Lacazette, Carlos Bacca and Michy Batshuayi decided to take a punt on Juventus’ Simone Zaza.

The Hammers paid a loan fee of £5m to take him for the season in a deal which included an obligation to buy for £20m if he made 14 or more first-team appearances for the club.

To date, the Italian international has made 11 appearances for West Ham without scoring and has been a monumental failure so far this season.

Speaking to JuveNews, the 25-year-old’s agent Vincenzo Morabito has confirmed that Zaza will return to Turin in January because West Ham do not want to keep him.

“Zaza will definitely go back to Juve, because West Ham do not want to keep him,” he told Juvenews. “He could well stay in Turin, given that Juventus might need another striker. If not, there are plenty of other options. I repeat, he will certainly return to Juve.”

With Zaza gone, West Ham will be reliant on Diafra Sakho, Andy Carroll and Ashley Fletcher as their first-team striker options unless the club spend on a January recruit.