West Ham are open to considering bids for captain Kurt Zouma during the upcoming summer transfer window.
The club has already identified potential transfers, including Fulham’s centre-back Tosin Adarabioyo, who could be signed on a free transfer.
Part of West Ham’s strategy involves reducing their wage bill, and Zouma, as one of the top earners and affected by a long-standing knee injury, is viewed as expendable.
The 29-year-old defender has previously attracted interest from teams in the Saudi Pro League. However, that was a year ago, and it’s difficult to imagine Zouma passing a medical at any club.
West Ham are looking to sell Zouma and Nayef Aguerd could be off too
Whilst I totally understand West Ham’s desire to get the player off the wage bill, I can’t see too many takers.
Zouma has taken over the captaincy from Declan Rice without ever fully convincing. The fact that Arsenal’s £105m man has been made England captain would indicate those were big boots to fill.
But Zouma has always seemed to lack genuine leadership skills and is clearly quiet on the pitch. Therefore, I’d suggest West Ham not only look for a replacement defender but also a new captain.
West Ham face a massive rebuild at centre back this summer. Nayef Aguerd is looking to leave the club and has changed agents and Angelo Ogbonna is getting on a bit. It could well be that Dinos Mavropanos is The Hammers only recognised central defender so West Ham must proceed with caution.