It is becoming increasingly likely that Simone Zaza has played his last game for the Irons with Valencia manager Cesare Prandelli confirming his interest in the striker. When asked about his rumoured interest in Zaza, Prandelli revealed:
“The ownership knows everything that I think. I asked for four players to start a new project, we’ll see if we can sign them in January. Zaza? When I came here I spoke to Suso [Valencia director of football] about him. I know him very well and he could be important for us, but it’s something the directors will take care of.”
The striker is currently sidelined by a reported knee injury and has failed to score in his 11 appearances for the club to date.
One unlikely candidate to fill the void left by Zaza could be sensation Toni Martínez who has scored 12 goals in 10 games for the under 23s this season and earned praise from his coach Terry Westley who said:
“Toni’s on double figures and he missed probably six weeks of the season. He has come from abroad, has had to settle, has been learning the language. That shows just how well he has done. He’s an out-and-out goalscorer. He puts his foot through the ball and he’s clinical. Toni’s record is frightening at the moment.”
The Spanish 19-year-old joined from Valencia in the summer and is tipped for big things by many at the club.
Quick attacking midfielder Marcus Browne is expected to head to League 1 Coventry City on loan in January, say the Coventry Telegraph. The 19-year-old has so far scored twice and assisted three times in appearances for the under 23s and also made his first team debut in the Europa League qualifiers in the summer.
Young left-back Lewis Page has already spent a loan spell at the Ricoh Arena this campaign and has made 24 appearances so far, with the deal expected to be extended from January until the end of the season with the Hammers pleased with Coventry’s management of the 20-year-old.
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