Anton Ferdinand reveals what West Ham United leader told him about Gianluca Scamacca

Former West Ham defender Anton Ferdinand has revealed what Declan Rice told him about exit-linked Gianluca Scamacca.

Stepping in as host on his bother Rio’s Vibe with Five YouTube show on 12 July, the former Hammer provided an insight into what the Irons’ captain thought of the Italian forward when they met earlier on last season.

Scamacca has been heavily linked with a move away from East London this summer, with a number of Serie A clubs believed to be battling it out for his services.

Speaking on the YouTube show, Ferdinand said: “At the start of the season when he (Scamacca) came, I was doing the Europa Conference League games and Dec and (Aaron) Cresswell weren’t playing. I was asking both of them about Scamacca before the game and both of them went ‘Wow, what a player, the way he strikes the ball and his confidence in his ability’.”

The former West Ham centre-back also weighed in on the rumours linking Scamacca with a move away from the club and him talking about potentially joining his boyhood side Roma, saying this is an important time for the striker to “showcase” what he can do.

“Why not just get your head down and use the minutes that you’re going to get in pre-season away in Australia to show the manager David Moyes that you’re more than competent of taking the number nine spot.”

It’s clear to see that the Hammers players were impressed by what they saw from Scamacca in his early days at the club and it’s no surprise after he arrived on the back of a superb season with Sassuolo.

But, unfortunately, those early glimpses of quality didn’t translate into the Italian having a successful campaign in a claret and blue shirt, with injuries and a lack of form preventing him from making a mark at the London Stadium.

Ferdinand is probably right in his assessment that the 24-year-old should now be using this time to get his head down and let his football do the talking, whether that is at West Ham or if his future does lie elsewhere.

If there is a way back for his career at the Hammers, it would be great to see some of those qualities Rice has talked about moving forwards on a consistent basis.