West Ham ‘can have another go’ for summer target Lazar Samardzic in January, Udinese ‘ready to listen’ to offers

According to CalcioMercato, West Ham United can “have another go” at signing Udinese midfielder Lazar Samardzic.

According to the Italian newspaper (28 September), following a failed summer deal to Inter Milan, the Hammers attempted to negotiate a move for the 21-year-old but were unsuccessful, but could resume their interest in January.

Samardzic was scheduled to join the Champions League finalists for £19 million, but Udinese are now open to offers for the Serbian international if the price is right.

Needed?

Samardzic is clearly a highly-regarded young player of the likes of Inter Milan were showing interest this summer. The Hammers looked to take advantage of their collapsed deal to no success.

Following this, West Ham ended the summer with an influx of excellent midfield options, all of which have hit the ground running at the London Stadium.

This begs the question, do West Ham need another midfielder? Probably not, and after an expensive summer window, the Hammers hierarchy would likely be reluctant to invest even more money in this position.

That being said, despite Udinese’s poor start to the season, Samardzic has proved influential in the minimal success the Serie A side have had. A point-earning goal against Salernitana and a late consolation goal against Napoli show that the young attacking midfielder has been one of the best of a bad bunch.

His underlying stats also reveal his quality. Per FBRef, Samardzic averages 0.22 non-penalty goals per 90 (93rd percentile), 4.87 shot-creating actions per 90 (99th percentile) and 1.77 successful take-ons per 90 (95th percentile), showing him to be an exceptional talent for his, or any age.

Time will tell with this transfer, and the Hammers’ start to the season does not indicate any issues in the middle of the park. But if there’s money to be spent, it could be spent in worse places than such a promising option.