West Ham United have been dealt a blow ahead of their Premier League opener against Manchester City this weekend.

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That's according to a report by Claret & Hugh, with the West Ham insider revealing in a recent post that Gianluca Scamacca is likely to be missing from David Moyes' matchday squad for the visit of Pep Guardiola's side this Sunday, as the centre-forward remains short of match fitness following his £35.5m move from Sassuolo last month.

Claret & Hugh go on to state that, at present, it is unclear as to when the 23-year-old will be ready for first-team football, with it being said that Moyes is waiting until he is certain that the Italy international is ready for the pace of the Premier League before unleashing the big-money addition.

Blow for Moyes

Considering the sizeable fee that West Ham coughed up for Scamacca this summer, in addition to just how talented a prospect the striker evidently is, the news that the Italian does not look likely to be available for selection for what is arguably the most difficult opening fixture of the new campaign the Hammers could have been given is sure to come as a blow to Moyes.

Indeed, the £27m-rated forward proved just how impressive a signing he is for West Ham over his 36 Serie A appearances last season, scoring 16 goals and creating three big chances for his team-mates, along with taking 2.2 shots, making 0.7 key passes and completing 0.6 dribbles per game.

These returns saw the £52k-per-week talent average a highly impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.03, ranking him as the Neroverdi's second-best player in the Italian top flight last time out.

Should these returns have come for the Hammers last season, Scamacca would not only have ranked as the club's leading scorer but also as the joint second-most frequent shot taker and the third-best performer overall in Moyes' first team squad - behind only Declan Rice and Jarrod Bowen respectively.

As such, it is clear to see that being without the services of the seven-cap international against the reigning Premier League champions is sure to come as a huge blow to the 59-year-old Scot and his team, with Moyes sure to be hoping that Scamacca will have reached match fitness before the trip to Nottingham Forest a week on Sunday.