West Ham sporting director Gianluca Nani on Thursday denied that the English Premiership outfit are chasing Fiorentina striker Giampaolo Pazzini.
The Hammers' Italian boss Gianfranco Zola has been linked with a number of Italian signings since taking over at Upton Park back in September, including a loan move for young Juventus forward Sebastian Giovinco.
But the struggling Premiership club have denied British newspaper speculation on Thursday that Pazzini is one of their targets.
“I just can't understand how this false information about our interest in Pazzini has got out,” Nani told Radio Kiss Kiss.
“With respect to the player in question, there's never been any contact made and we're not going to sign him because we're not interested in signing him. We've never even considered signing him.”
While Pazzini is not in their sights, Nani admitted that Giovinco and Napoli's young Slovakia midfielder Marek Hamsik do interest West Ham.
Nani even described Hamsik as the new Steven Gerrard.
“He has the ideal characteristics for a Premier League footballer,” he said.
“I believe that Marek, who I know from my time at Brescia, is the best young midfielder in circulation, a great champion in the making.
“When he plays in the Champions League he'll be on his way to winning the Ballon d'Or.
“For me he's the new Gerrard, a champion of international stature.”
Nani admitted that it was unlikely they would manage to sign Giovinco, though.
“He could interest us but Juventus have been quite clear about their plans. I don't think we'll sign an Italian player (in January) even if in football you can never say never.”
