West Ham United’s continued interest in Nantes defender Nathan Zeze is an intriguing development, as the club looks to further strengthen its defensive options.
The 19-year-old Frenchman has shown promise in Ligue 1, and his ability to play with both feet is an attractive proposition for any club. While Zeze’s defensive statistics compare favourably to the outgoing Kurt Zouma, the potential imbalance in the defensive line-up, with three left-footed centre-backs, could be a concern.
Although Zeze does bring a calmness on the ball that Zouma doesn’t have, despite their 10-year age gap. The 19-year-old manages more passes per 90, more progressive passes, and more passes into the final third, also showing the bravery and confidence to break the lines with his passing.
However, the opportunity to sign a young, talented player with significant upside is tempting. If West Ham can find a way to integrate Zeze into the team and address the potential defensive imbalances, the move could prove to be a shrewd one. Max Kilman has played as the right centre-back before now, so the possibility of integrating Zeze is an intriguing one.
Ultimately, the decision to pursue Zeze will depend on a number of factors, including the player’s availability, the club’s budget, and the manager’s tactical preferences.
@
I wonder if West Ham will start to follow the Chelsea model?
Chelsea have 56 players. Most won’t get near playing for the 1st team. Chelsea have signed 10 players with average age <21. They will go out on loan. Chelsea then plan to sell them all at profit in the future. Putting them on 7 year deals lowers the PSR impact. Selling a home grown player for pure profit balances the books.
So maybe Zeze, like Guillherme, fits with this approach? Our first venture into making profit from young players who may not actually play much for the 1st team?
the good thing about foreign u21 is you don’t need to register them
obviously they aren’t going to be good enough for the starting 11, that would be prohibitively expensive
what you want is for them to support the first team, provide competition for form and cover for injuries – otherwise bed them in over time gradually in low risk situations
this is how you build a sustainable team, when you sell the likes your kudus, etc you already have someone being prepared to take their place
not like chelsea that, that is just stupid, squad should be manageable so that fringe players can play their part
I dont think we are going the Chelsea way. Zeze is a good defender, talented and it is a coincidence he is very young. Anyway, as the article mentions, we need a right footed defender for variation.