West Ham United have concerns over Kurt Zouma knee injury, hoping for £12.6m Thilo Kehrer deal
West Ham are hopeful of agreeing a £12.6m deal for Thilo Kehrer after long-term injury concerns emerged over Kurt Zouma, according to 90min.
David Moyes is looking to strengthen his defensive options after the sale of Issa Diop to Fulham, while summer signing Nayef Aguerd is out until the new year with an ankle injury picked up in pre-season.
But according to a report on Monday [August 15] there are concerns that Zouma could have a long-term degenerative knee issue, meaning the need for new defenders is even greater than initially believed.
Zouma has started both Premier League games so far this season as the only fit centre back, but hasn’t looked sharp in either game and the suggestion is that he is playing through an issue.
Craig Dawson and Angelo Ogbonna are currently not fit enough to feature either, meaning he is the only available senior central defender. PSG and West Ham are both hopeful of getting a deal done for Kehrer this week, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Oh no
More injuries, and more to centre back, is not something David Moyes or West Ham needed after the start to the season we’ve had.
Two defeats with no goals scored isn’t ideal, but with only Zouma as a natural centre back it makes the defeats understandable. If he’s injured too and forced to sit out though then it’s a huge problem.
Hopefully Dawson will be able to return sooner rather than later and Kehrer can come in before the weekend Premier League fixture against Brighton and Zouma can be rested and treated adequately.
However if the concerns that it’s a long-term problem are true, then the club should probably look at replacing him in the near future too which would be a huge shame considering how big of a player he has become for us.
A top central defender is hard to find, but West Ham need to find two more potentially in this window on top of all the other things they need.