Kurt Zouma’s impending move to Al-Orobah in Saudi Arabia is a necessary step for the Irons. The defender’s departure will free up space in the squad which has become as important as reducing the wage bill at West Ham.
However, it does seem incredible that the £25m signing from Chelsea is still only 29. Theses should be the peak years for central defenders, but seeing 36 year old Angelo Ogbonna fly through his Watford medical only further highlights Zouma’s fitness issues.
Zouma stands absolutely no chance as a regular starter under Julen Lopetegui due to his injury record and unsuitability to the Spaniards tactics. The arrival of new defenders, such as Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo, has further limited his playing time and to be fair to Zouma, he’s admitted his time is finished in East London.
As reported earlier, the club will need to shift a few more before bringing in Carlos Soler, particularly given the huge wage subsidies being offered by the club. But at least Zouma is not dragging his feet and refusing to move. There are far too many players at the club seemingly comfortable to just sit on the bench and collect their wages.
While Zouma may have been a valuable asset to West Ham in the past, his departure is a logical decision given his current situation. Lopetegui can now concentrate on developing his defence whilst the big Frenchman should hopefully enjoy some regular football when fit.
I find it incredible that Zooma did not seem to be any better during the pre season than he was last season , yet he was allowed
to limp thru game after game as the defense deteriorated.
Zooma has been a great servant for the club but we recklessly ignored that he was unfit and continued to play him .
Thankfully, common sense and reasoning has returned to the club .
Legacy of Moyes I am afraid – He’s the one that bought all these players who in the stark light of day were p[ast their best or not good enough, injury prone and expensive flops.
£25m ? . I’m pretty sure he cost £30m . anyway it doesn’t matter . I’m amazed he passed a medical he was told years ago while at Chelsea he needed major surgery on his knees . but refused as it would cost him money . That decision has probably cost him another 2 or 3 years at the top level . It’s a shame zou was outstanding in his 1st season at the hammers .
Zouma’s young to be potentially staring at retirement, but that threat is his motivation. He will have made some decent money over the past half dozen or so years but his career is ending much quicker than most of his peers. If he struggles to pass a medical now this time next year it will be even less likely. He needs to find a league in which he can play comfortably not just this year but maybe for one or two more years and collect some more money.
Ings is different. He can see out his West Ham contract and likely get another couple of years with a sign in bonus even if it is in the Championship. Also at West Ham he won’t see himself as first choice, but he might be playing a waiting game to see whether Antonio performs well enough to be the second choice and also avoids injury. Antonio’s contract is up this time next year. As that date gets closer Antonio may become less likely to take risks that might lead to injuries because he is probably eyeing a free agent (semi retirement) gig after that, either in the Championship, or abroad. Maybe even the US.
“Massive shame” is in speech marks so I was expecting to read about someone being quoted…?
I have never been a fan of Mr zuma I think the long drawn out Moyes MOT again failed to recognise the difference between a race horse and a donkey. We can only count our blessings we are not looking for retirement homes for Maguire aswell. I don’t blame players for not taking a pay cut if we are honest we wouldn’t do it in the same position. This issue is on the club unfortunately. Fortunately they appear to have learnt some hard lessons and appointed someone who actually knows what they are doing
Compared with a few other players Oggi has continued to show his class. He has negotiated a decent deal for going which is his right after giving good service to the club. The whole situation just shows up Moyes lack of command in the last 18months, when he played several either out of position or injured rather than change the stupidly small squad or use the youngsters to any meaningful effect. Remeber “well he trained with the 1st teamers and was added to the bench” when accused of ignoring the young players. How several Ings and Cornet were allowed to be bought is 100% down to him. Even JWP was changed from attacking midfielder to defender, not successful. By staying beyond our Euro final win he undid a huge amount of what he had achieved in the previous 2 years.