Man Utd & West Ham Reportedly Locked in Battle for Sporting CP Full Back Cristiano Piccini
Manchester United and West Ham will fight it out to sign Sporting CP right back Cristiano Piccini, according to reports.
Piccini's head has been turned by the rumours and he could become the latest Sporting player to demand that his contract be cancelled after the club's training ground was invaded by masked hooligans in May.
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Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio is the most high-profile player to use that incident as justification for a cheap summer move, joining Wolves last month in a deal for which Sporting are still demanding compensation.
Piccini could be set to follow him to the Premier League, with the Sun claiming that Jose Mourinho and Manuel Pellegrini will both sanction £17.5m bids for the 25-year-old, leaving him with a choice to make.
Reports from Turkey claimed that Besiktas would attempt to rival the Premier League pair for Piccini, but due to Financial Fair Play restrictions they would only be able to offer a loan deal.
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The Italian played 24 league games for Sporting last season and also featured heavily in their Champions League and Europa League campaigns.
Piccini is a curious target, as both teams have already signed a right back this summer. West Ham brought in Ryan Fredericks from Fulham and Manchester United signed Diogo Dalot from Sporting's rivals Porto.
Piccini, who was born in Florence and started his career at Fiorentina, played for Italy at youth level but is yet to make his senior bow for the Azzurri.
