West Ham fail to agree personal terms with Kurt Zouma, deal unlikely
West Ham are reportedly unlikely to pursue a deal for Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma this summer.
According to Sky Sports’ Dharmesh Seth, the Hammers are £4million shy of the Blues’ valuation of the player.
Personal terms between Zouma and West Ham are also understood to be a stumbling block and the transfer is unlikely to go ahead.
Via his personal Twitter account, Sheth wrote, “West Ham United unlikely to pursue deal for Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma. Around £4m apart in valuation and personal terms an issue.
“Zouma contract at Chelsea up in 2023 and happy to stay.
“West Ham remain in market for CB. Fiorentina’s Nikola Milenkovic an option.”
Bottled another one
We’ve had so many misses this summer and each one seems to top up the previous one.
With few days left to go for the new season, we’ve not signed a centre-back, striker or got clarity on Jesse Lingard’s future, although his signing was always a major doubt.
After having such a good season that saw us finish sixth and qualify for Europe, we follow it up by a summer of disappointment while all clubs around us are already stronger than they were a few months ago.
Zouma’s interest is a recent one and we’re glad to see it get resolved before it getting embroiled in a long-drawn saga.
Hopefully, with only one centre-back being our priority in Nikola Milenkovic, we can now give him whatever he wants and ensure we sign him this summer.
The Serbian, who has been likened to former Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic [ESPN], is a towering centre-back who would give us an aerial advantage in both boxes.
Standing at 6ft 5in, there are only a handful of Premier League defenders that are taller than him and his height advantage has seen him become the most successful player in Europe’s top five leagues at winning aerial duels (min 100 attempted).
He’s definitely a player that would check most boxes for David Moyes and if we fail to get him over the line as well then we can possibly write off our chances of finishing in the top six next season.
It’s time the board wakes up before it’s too late.
In other West Ham news, ExWHUEmployee responds to reported Moyes-Sullivan behind-the-scenes fallout at West Ham
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