By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)
Roma had been quietly building their case for Crysencio Summerville long before Manchester United joined the chase earlier today, with sportwitness.co.uk reporting that Donyell Malen is doing his best to talk our winger into a move to the Stadio Olimpico.
Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport described it neatly as “Malen’s persuasion on one side, discussions at the highest levels” on the other.
As far as our tricky Dutch winger is concerned… the cat is out of the bag I’m afraid.
Summerville’s brilliant goal against Japan put him in front of a global audience and the chances of keeping him at the London Stadium are now somewhere between slim and zilch.
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Roma Were First, United Are Only Catching Up
The Roma link is not a new development.
Gian Piero Gasperini has been mapping out an attacking line for weeks that would pair Summerville with Malen, Mason Greenwood, Paulo Dybala, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Matías Soulé.
Roma reportedly opened with a £25 million offer against a West Ham asking price of said to be £50m if this mornings reports from Manchester United are accurate.
Malen Is Doing The Job We Cannot Stop
The tapping-up element is what makes this so difficult to defend against although the Serie A club will have their work cut out with interest from Old Trafford.
Malen is Roma’s recently confirmed permanent signing from Aston Villa and our winger’s Netherlands teammate at the World Cup.
He is the man on the inside telling Summerville how good things could be at the Olimpico together.
Summerville has supposedly already made it clear he will not be playing in the Championship, but honestly, he seems to be keeping his head down and concentrating on the WC.
His contract runs until 2029 with an optional further year, which at least gives the hammers some security.
What The Hammers Can Realistically Hope For
I think the honest answer is, not much.
Best case scenario, the World Cup keeps doing exactly what it has done so far, with Summerville’s performances continuing to push his value higher and pulling the eventual fee closer to a sensible reflection of his level.
If Roma, United and PSG are all genuinely in, a bidding war serves us a great deal better than a quiet sale.
Make no mistake, Summerville will be sold this summer, and probably sooner rather than later.
At the moment, our chances of keeping him are zero.