Kurt Zouma to West Ham United transfer saw Chelsea director ‘physically threatened’ court told
Marina Granovskaia has told a court that Kurt Zouma’s transfer from Chelsea to West Ham saw her “physically threatened” by an agent.
The Guardian reported website on 23 April that Saif Alrubie is accused of sending a threatening message to Roman Abramovich’s former club chief demanding a £300,000 payment for what he claimed was his role in the Irons defender’s move from West to East London in 2021.
Granovskaia gave evidence in Alrubie’s trial where he is accused of sending “electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety”, as she disputed the suggestion from his lawyer that she had cut the agent out of defender’s move, said to have cost £29million including add-ons.
The court was read the 22 May 2022 email which said: “In summary, you owe me and my partners 300k which needs to get paid ASAP. If Chelsea don’t pay it then that debt will be on you to pay. I am done trying to be nice to you.
“I look forward to hearing from you on the above matters and hopefully have a swift solution to them otherwise I guess I will see you when I see you.
“I’m sure you’ve heard the story about your other friend Kia [Joorabchian] when he owed me money for a year and how he ended up paying it. Wouldn’t want you to be in the same situation just because you have a personal issue with me.’’
Granovskaia told the court: “Very uncomfortable would be an understatement. I felt threatened. Physically threatened.”
Alrubie denies he is guilty of the offence contrary to the Malicious Communications Act 1988. The case continues.
West Ham defender’s deal at centre of legal dispute
The Hammers captain’s move has proven to be a largely-positive one at the London Stadium, although the Frenchman hasn’t been free of legal troubles himself after standing trial two years ago over kicking his cat [Sky Sports].
Knee issues have started to hamper his ability to perform for West Ham and may contribute to the club making moves at centre-back in the summer.
The world of football transfers often appears to be far murkier in reality than it seems from the outside, and the dispute over Zouma’s move looks to be one of those.
Joorabchian, who the court was told was “accosted” as part of an attempt to “intimidate” him into repaying cash, has his own chequered history with West Ham as he was central to the third-party ownership dispute involving Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano’s moves to Upton Park in 2006 [Daily Mail].
And the Irons saw a potential move for Ibrahim Osman of FC Nordsjaelland collapse in dramatic circumstances at the hands of an apparent rogue agent in the previous transfer window.
So with plenty of transfer business on the cards this summer Tim Steidten will have to hope things are a lot more straight forward.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers can land a £7million discount to sign an international attacker they are after.
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