Daily WHUFC News - Zaza

Hammers land Italy star Zaza
WHUFC.com

West Ham United land Italy international striker Simone Zaza on initial season-long loan
Prolific centre forward joins from Italian champions Juventus
Zaza has already scored at London Stadium in Betway Cup earlier this month

West Ham United have added star power to their forward line by signing Italy international striker Simone Zaza. The 25-year-old forward joins the Hammers from Italian champions Juventus on an initial season-long loan for €5million, which will become permanent for a further €20million fee if Zaza makes a pre-agreed number of appearances in Claret and Blue. The latest arrival takes the Club's spending to more than £60million this summer, with Zaza becoming West Ham's eleventh signing of a busy transfer window. The signing again illustrates the Board's commitment to reinvesting the revenue raised from the Club's move to London Stadium and building a squad commensurate with those stunning surroundings.

A strong, quick centre forward blessed with powerful aerial ability and a lethal left foot, Zaza arrives in east London after helping Juve win Serie A and featuring for his country at UEFA Euro 2016. Zaza, who scored Juve's winner in the Betway Cup win at London Stadium earlier this month, cannot wait to get started under new manager Slaven Bilic. Zaza said: "I want to thank everyone for welcoming me including the fans and everyone at the Club. I wanted to start a new experience and I feel this is the right choice for me. "I have been fortunate enough to have already played at the new Stadium with a different shirt. It is a beautiful stadium and I felt the warmth of the fans and this was a big reason why I wanted to join the Club. "I want to become a better player and I know I can do that at West Ham. Unfortunately we could not qualify for the Europa League, but I am hoping I can help the Club do that next season."

Capped 14 times by the Azzurri, Zaza was born in Policoro in the far south of Italy, where he started his career with Stella Azzurra Bernalda as a schoolboy.
After four years with Valdera, the left-sided forward made his senior breakthrough with Bergamo-based Atalanta, where he made his first-team debut at the age of 17 in 2009. Sampdoria moved for Zaza in 2010, and he spent a season in Genoa before being loaned to lower-league Juve Stabia and Viareggio, where he hit the net with increasing regularity. In 2012/13, the shaven-headed striker pushed himself onto the national stage during a season-long loan spell at Ascoli, where he netted 18 goals in 35 Serie B appearances. That form saw Serie A newcomers Sassuolo move for Zaza on a permanent basis, and he repaid their faith by scoring the goals which helped the I Neroverdi beat the drop in dramatic style. The 2014/15 season was even better for both Zaza, who scored eleven Serie A goals, and his club, who finished comfortably in mid-table. Capped regularly at age-group level by his country, Zaza's goalscoring and fine all-round play saw him awarded his full Italy debut against the Netherlands in August 2014, scoring his maiden goal on his second appearance against Norway the same month.

An international and former Juventus teammate of West Ham's Angelo Ogbonna, Zaza appeared three times at Euro 2016.

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Ten Fast Facts - Simone Zaza
WHUFC.com

We take a closer look at the Hammers' latest signing, Italian forward Simone Zaza…

* As a six-year-old, Zaza joined small Italian side Stella Azzurra Bernalda and remained there until he was eleven

* After a spell at Valdera, he joined Serie A club Atalanta and progressed through their youth ranks to make his senior debut there

* Zaza has represented Italy at U16, 17, 19 levels and is now a full senior international

* After joining Sampdoria, he struggled to break into the first team, but impressive loan spells at Viareggio and Ascoli provided 29 goals in 55 appearances

* He next joined Sassoulo on a co-ownership basis with Juventus – the forward would later play for the Old Lady

* During the 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons, he scored 21 times for Sassuolo and earned a big money move to Juve last summer

* He notched eight times in 24 matches for the world giants last campaign before heading to UEFA Euro 2016 with Antonio Conte's Azzurri outfit

* Zaza – who has 14 caps – played three times in France for Italy, assisting Eder's late winner against Sweden in the group stages

* The attacking talent scored the winner in Juventus' 3-2 Betway Cup win against the Hammers earlier this summer

* You can follow West Ham's newest recruit on Twitter at @SimoneZaza

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West Ham transfer news: Simone Zaza completes season-long loan move from Juventus
JAMES BENGE
Evening Standard

Simone Zaza has completed his move to West Ham, the Italian striker arriving from Juventus on an initial season-long loan with a view to a £20million permanent deal. That would make the Italian international West Ham's equal-record signing. Slaven Bilic has already broken his transfer ceiling once this summer, paying Swansea £20m for Andre Ayew and it has partially been down to an injury to the Ghanaian international that the Hammers have returned to the market. Andy Carroll, Diafra Sakho and Ayew all face periods on the sidelines and Zaza will be expected to lead the West Ham line throughout the season. After completing his move, Zaza told West Ham's official website: "I want to thank everyone for welcoming me including the fans and everyone at the Club. I wanted to start a new experience and I feel this is the right choice for me. "I have been fortunate enough to have already played at the new Stadium with a different shirt. It is a beautiful stadium and I felt the warmth of the fans and this was a big reason why I wanted to join the Club. "I want to become a better player and I know I can do that at West Ham. Unfortunately we could not qualify for the Europa League, but I am hoping I can help the Club do that next season."

Over three seasons in Serie A Zaza scored 25 goals for Sassuolo and Juventus, helping to fire the former side to its best ever league campaign. However his £12m move to the Italian champions rarely got off the ground. Zaza made just 24 appearances for Juventus last season but did display an impressive goal tally, finding the back of the net every 133 minutes on average.

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