Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp admits he didn’t know Gianluca Scamacca too well before he joined West Ham in 2022 but believes he is a ‘fantastic option’ for Italy ‘for a specific way of play.’
Klopp was asked his thoughts on Scamacca during a pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
The Italy international scored twice at Anfield last week, becoming the first Italian player to score a brace away at Liverpool.
An Italian reporter asked Klopp the last question during his pre-match press conference on Wednesday. It was about Scamacca and whether he could start for Italy at Euro 2024.
What Klopp said about Scamacca
“He was exceptional against us—really, really good. He was difficult to play against,” the coach replied.
“He was great in the air and great on the floor. I didn’t know him too well when he came to West Ham. It didn’t work out well 100% there, but it can happen because the Premier League is a difficult league to play. You can see he has great quality.
“I don’t know all the other Italian strikers to be honest, so I can’t compare them. I know them all but I don’t know exactly who is in contention to be the No.9 for Italy and who is not,” continued Klopp.
“But for a specific way of play, I think he is a fantastic option. A really focused player who can bring the ball down and give time to push up. He is a threat in the box. It’s a really interesting package. He made a big difference in that game, but we also didn’t make it too difficult for him, so we should make it more difficult for him tomorrow [today]. Did he score against us when he was at West Ham?”
The answer was no.
“Look, so…we played twice against him, and we defended well, so let’s see what we can do tomorrow [today],” concluded Klopp.
Scamacca joined Atalanta from West Ham last summer and has scored 14 goals in 34 appearances across all competitions this season.
The 25-year-old netted eight times in 27 West Ham appearances in 2022-23.
Italy CT Luciano Spalletti didn’t call him up for games against Venezuela and Ecuador last month. Scamacca has one goal – against England – in 15 appearances with the Azzurri.