Transfer News: West Ham reopen negotiations for Chelsea star Kurt Zouma
According to transfer news from Evening Standard, West Ham have kept their pursuit of Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma on. It was believed that talks over a potential deal had collapsed. However, the Hammers have reopened negotiations with Chelsea. West Ham are also in talks with Nikola Milenkovic.
It is hard to believe that Kurt Zouma is still just 26. Often times it has felt that he has been around forever. The French defender came to Chelsea in 2014 as one of the brightest prospects from France. His talent was there for all to see but things have not gone smoothly since the injury in 2015. He has been out on loans to Stoke and Everton without much success.
It was only under Frank Lampard that Zouma started to feature on a regular basis. However, a tactical shift under Thomas Tuchel saw Zouma sidelined for the most part of last season’s end. Even with Thiago Silva injured, Tuchel opted to use Andreas Christensen to supplement the defence and even used Reece James as a centre-back on occasions.
West Ham looked to offer Zouma a way out but wage demands saw the deal collapse earlier. However, it seems that their interest in the former St. Etienne man has not dropped and they have now tentatively reopened negotiations over a deal. It must be added that West Ham are also in talks with Nikola Milenkovic of Fiorentina.
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Ideally, Chelsea would be okay with West Ham taking Zouma off their hands. There are too many defenders in the side and some of the names that are on the fringes can be allowed to move on. Zouma has served the club well when called upon but he looks to be out of favour at Chelsea under Tuchel.