Simeone Zaza to Southampton: Saints to hijack West Ham’s move for £21.5m striker

SOUTHAMPTON are plotting to hijack West Ham’s bid to sign Juventus striker Simone Zaza.

New Saints boss Claude Puel has identified the £21.5 million-rated striker as the man to sprinkle some stardust on his frontline in his debut Premier League season.

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Puel still has a large wad of cash burning a hole in his pocket from the £34m sale of Sadio Mane to Liverpool this summer.

But like The Hammers Saints will be looking for an initial loan deal before deciding whether to put up the cash to land Zaza on a permanent deal.

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Nathan Redmond has joined Southampton for £10m from Norwich and scored on his debut in the first game of the season.

But Zaza, 25, is hugely tempting now that he is no longer part of the plans for the Italian champions.

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West Ham remain the favourites to land the Italy international and are ahead of the game - moving swiftly in light of injury to forwards Andre Ayew and Andy Carroll which has plunged their plans into turmoil.

Zaza’s dad Antonio said: “West Ham are a solution but need to come up with something concrete. We are taking London into serious consideration as his next destination. We expect news soon.”

West Ham’s new 57,000 capacity stadium in London also gives them an advantage over Southampton and have also been watching Man City striker Wilfried Bony for a long time.

But The Hammers were also hours away from signing Marseille striker Michy Batshuayi before Chelsea pounced at the 11th hour and completed a £31.5 million swoop.