West Ham United have made enquiries over the possibility of signing Atalanta midfielder Nicola Zalewski to replace Lucas Paqueta, according to Ekrem Konur.
The Hammers have been active in the transfer market as they look to reinforce their squad to avoid relegation. Attacking reinforcement has taken centre stage with Taty Castellanos and Pablo Felipe from Lazio and Gil Vicente, respectively, while Venezuelan wonderkid Keiber Lamadrid also joined on loan from Deportivo La Guaira.
Adama Traore has also reunited with his former manager to provide the Portuguese with sufficient firepower up front.
Despite their transfer business, their squad has been left with a significant void to fill following Lucas Paqueta’s departure to Flamengo.
The Brazilian has been the club’s talisman since he arrived from Lyon in 2022. He has been the club’s best orchestrator and creator and, most remarkably, played a key role in their 2023 UEFA Conference League triumph, when he was selected to the team of the tournament.
With his departure now confirmed, West Ham are looking for a possible replacement, and Konur claims that Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have set their sights on Atalanta’s Zelewski, who is also of keen interest to Napoli.
The journalist adds that East Londoners have made enquiries about signing the 24-year-old as they look to replace their Brazilian talisman.
Replacement
However, West Ham will need to submit a firm offer well above his £12m Transfermarkt valuation, as Konur reports that Atalanta are reluctant to sell the Polish international following the departure of Ademola Lookman unless a significant bid is made.
Nuno’s pursuit of Zalewski makes sense, as the Poland international offers the creativity in attack and the combativeness in defensive situations that Paqueta does.
He has already recorded five assists this campaign, and his assist rate of 0.2 per 90 minutes places him among the standout creators in Serie A, outperforming more than 90 per cent of the league’s players by that measure.
His contribution off the ball stands out just as strongly, with averages of 6.2 recoveries and 7.1 successful duels per match underlining an engine that fits perfectly with Nuno’s counter-attacking approach.
On the ball, Zalewski attempts 1.3 deliveries into the penalty area per game and completes 53 per cent of his take-ons, qualities that would prove useful for the manager’s system.
While it is unclear whether West Ham will submit a concrete offer, the stats suggest Zelewski would be a good fit for them, especially in their relegation battle.
