If only West Ham’s shirt came with a collar, Gianluca Scamacca might have been wearing his upturned. That is the impression you get listening to the £35.5million striker talk about why he wants to be more like Eric Cantona in his first interview since moving to English football.
As with every new Premier League import, it is necessary to ask who he grew up admiring. Cantona is his surprise choice, given the enigmatic Frenchman stopped playing football before Scamacca was even born on New Year’s Day in 1999.
Yet this 23-year-old Italian would search YouTube for clips of Cantona, including his old Nike adverts.