West Ham United: Kurt Zouma sends seven-word message as Thilo Kehrer transfer announcement made at London Stadium
Kurt Zouma has sent a six-word message to Thilo Kehrer after his confirmed exit from West Ham United on Friday 5 January.
The Hammers confirmed on Friday (5 January) that the 27-year-old German international has joined French Ligue 1 outfit AS Monaco on a six-month loan worth £431,000, which will include a mandatory clause to buy him for £9.5million (Fabrizio Romano, 4 January).
Kehrer made 12 appearances so far this season at the London Stadium with only four of them starts but was certainly a popular figure in the West Ham dressing room and defender Zouma shared his reaction on Instagram (5 January) to send his best wishes to the German.
The Frenchman wrote: "All the best in your next chapter."
Had to move
It’s been a fun 18 months of having Kehrer at West Ham, but there is no doubt that this is the right time for all parties for this deal to happen.
Kehrer was a key part of the squad that won the Europa Conference League last season filling in cross the back four throughout the campaign, but this season he has struggled for any meaningful minutes.
Vladimir Coufal is well ahead of him in the pecking order at right-back with Ben Johnson a clear second choice while Kurt Zouma, Nayef Aguerd, Dinos Mavropanos and Angelo Ogbonna are all preferred at centre-back.
Monaco is indeed a great place to go and prove your worth again and the French giants are offering him a way to get regular playing time for the rest of this season ahead of Euro 2024 this summer before a chance at regular minutes next season too, while West Ham earn a potentially healthy windfall in the process.
Great deal for all parties involved.