Swap deals, such as the one Chelsea offered West Ham United during discussions over Mohammed Kudus, are relatively few and far between in the Premier League these days.
While Profit and Sustainability concerns saw Newcastle, Everton, Aston Villa and Chelsea manically trade players between them 12 months ago – the likes of Elliott Anderson, Lewis Dobbin and Omari Kellyman all changing hands – pure, old school swap deals are far from a regular occurrence in the modern market.
The most recent high-profile example being the exchange between Manchester United and Arsenal back in 2018. Henrikh Mkhitaryan swapping Old Trafford for the Emirates, and Alexis Sanchez going in the other direction.
A Chelsea side who once landed Ashley Cole while sending William Gallas to the Gunners did attempt to roll back the years, though, with Mohammed Kudus attracting plenty of interest both at home and abroad.
Chelsea offered Jadon Sancho to the Hammers. Trevoh Chalobah, Axel Disasi, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Robert Sanchez and Tosin Adarabioyo also featured in discussions.
As for West Ham United, speculation did suggest that the Hammers could offer Luizao to Corinthians as a makeweight in a deal that would have seen long-time striker target Yuri Alberto make a belated switch to the London Stadium.
Corinthians striker Yuri Alberto celebrates - FBL-SUDAMERICANA-CORINTHIANS-ARGENTINOS
Photo by MIGUEL SCHINCARIOL/AFP via Getty Images
Luizao describes West Ham United target Yuri Alberto as his toughest opponent
Yuri Alberto’s agent confirmed West Ham’s interest in the spring. They, along with Wolves and Real Betis, are one of the clubs to have submitted an offer.
Corinthians also confirmed, back in 2023, that they had rejected a bid from West Ham for their £15 million-rated talisman.
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Two years on, with Yuri Alberto still on the London Stadium radar, the man on the other end of that alleged swap deal has labelled the one-time Brazil international the toughest number nine he has come up against in his professional career.
Luizao went eyeball-to-eyeball with Yuri Alberto during a 1-1 draw between Sao Paulo and Corinthians in 2022. The former Zenit St Petersburg man opened the scoring that day, too, with a goal which highlighted the variety of attributes at his disposal.
After laying the ball off and darting into a pocket of space, Alberto lashed a thunderous strike into the top corner from well outside the penalty area.
“There was Victor Roque and also Yuri Alberto for Corinthians, then Gustavo Scarpa when he was at Palmeiras,” Luizao says when discussing his toughest opponents.
“The hardest one I faced was Alberto. He is a guy who moves a lot. He plays in the centre but he runs away a lot. He doesn’t stay still, he opens up space, plays on both sides of the field.
“We played against him at Morumbi [Sao Paulo’s stadium], one-to-one. He scored, by the way! He was the hardest because he was strong too, physically strong.”
Back injury could wreck West Ham’s chances of signing Corinthians striker
While the aforementioned Vitor Roque enjoyed La Liga spells with Barcelona and Real Betis, while Gustavo Scarpa had a brief stint at Nottingham Forest, Yuri Alberto’s 15-game stay with Zenit St Petersburg in 2022 is the closest he has come to establishing himself this side of the Atlantic.
After suffering a fractured back last month, however, Yuri Alberto could slip through West Ham’s fingers for the second time.
The 2025 Brazilian Serie A Golden Boot winner appears set to stay at Corinthians while he undergoes rehab on an injury which could render him unavailable until deep into the summer.
“Yuri has a long contract with us [until the end of 2027],” Fabinho Soldado, the club’s chief executive, said recently. “He has already said that he wants to stay at Corinthians.
“Of course, given his performance – not only this year but last year as well – he has attracted interest. But nothing concrete has come of it. We cannot work with speculation.
“He is happy here, we are happy, we hope that he recovers from this injury as soon as possible to help us.”
As for Luizao, West Ham’s forgotten man is open to a Brazil return following an impressive loan spell in Poland with Pogon Szczecin, regardless of whether Yuri Alberto moves in the other direction.