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Manuel 9:01 Wed Aug 25
Kurt Zouma - Signed

OS

Kurt Zouma joins West Ham United

West Ham United is delighted to announce the signing of France international Kurt Zouma until the summer of 2025.



The 26-year-old central defender joins for an undisclosed fee from Chelsea, where he accumulated two Premier League titles, one UEFA Champions’ League winner's medal and one EFL Cup winner's medal during a seven-year career.

A prodigious talent who boasts great pace, strength, technical proficiency and the experience of 165 Premier League and 27 top-level European appearances, Zouma further strengthens manager David Moyes’ top-of-the-table West Ham team ahead of their first-ever venture into the Europa League group stages.

He currently holds eight full international caps with France, having progressed through all junior levels with the national team since the Under-16 age group, and will this week again join up with Didier Deschamps’s squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Bosnia, Ukraine and Finland.

“I’m very happy and very proud,” Zouma said on signing for West Ham.

“My conversation with the manager went very fast. I just felt like he really wanted me to come and join the team, especially a good team that’s started the season very, very well.

threesixty 9:08 Wed Aug 25
Re: Kurt Zouma

The problem is, if you pay 25m and 100+ a week for him he has to start. But how do you start him in a side that has just scored 8 goals and won their last 2 games?

Forget what his paper value is, is he really better than Dawson/Ogbonna who are well oiled in this team? No

And so your potentially going to have a player earning more than all the other players who have got us this far and doesn’t even have the pedigree to say .. well I’m worth it! It’s not like your getting a 1st team player from a big club. He kind of isn’t that anymore.

So I really don’t get it.
I think he isn’t”alright” but he ain’t worth the money at all imho

⚒️ 9:08 Wed Aug 25
Re: Kurt Zouma

99% done

Superb signing.

Takashi Miike 9:10 Wed Aug 25
Re: Kurt Zouma

can't get a game for chelsea but thinks he should walk straight in without playing a game and be out top earner? no, I'll pass on that one and give coufal a pay rise

Manuel 9:13 Wed Aug 25
Re: Kurt Zouma

360 - let's wait to see what his salary is before jumping to them conclusions.

Rossal 9:14 Wed Aug 25
Re: Kurt Zouma

I rate him, he is of a good age and a good defender. Threat from set pieces too.

But last night our budget is rumored to be £45M so spending over half of it on a CB seems mental when we look so light up the top end of the pitch

Manuel 9:18 Wed Aug 25
Re: Kurt Zouma

Rossal - Not really, I think it's clear now we are only going to get in a back up for Antonio, so maybe 10 mil max or a loanee on a forward?

goose 9:24 Wed Aug 25
Re: Kurt Zouma

Don’t get too obsessed with him walking straight into the team.

We’ve got a marathon season ahead so there will be plenty of opportunities to prove his worth.

We need an excellent squad, not just an excellent starting XI.

Lily Hammer 9:26 Wed Aug 25
Re: Kurt Zouma

Manuel

It’s true the wage demand stories might be made up, and I really hope they are, because if there’s any truth to them, I’d rather we have him a massive swerve. He’s ok, but nowhere near good enough to waltz in and become one of our top earners.

Reasonable purchase and wage prices, then yes. I’m sure Moyes can improve him, but if not, as I said on toad’s thread, I’d be happier getting one of the better championship CBs, who would feel privileged to play for us.

The Fonz 9:27 Wed Aug 25
Re: Kurt Zouma

I reckon he will be an excellent signing and hoping that he and Diop once Ogbonna is past it (he is 33) are the future for us. That French Connection.

Strong, quick, dominant in the air, scores from corners a fair bit. Definitely a step up.

Only thing I do not like is if he is our highest earner or one of them. I do not think this bodes well for the other players like Coufal who have been playing out of their skin the last year or so.

CARTERS 9:31 Wed Aug 25
Re: Kurt Zouma

If we believe what we read in various outlets ,he's looking for money than anyone at the Club.
Is he that Good??
Would he walk straight in??
For 25m well we could get Carleta Carr and have 10m change.
Now I'm not suggesting he's better that this lad but,, Prima Donna's we do not need when we are going so well.
Personally, I'd say to him your on 70m at Chelsea that's what your getting here or , do one..
After all he's only bench warming at Chelsea.

CARTERS 9:32 Wed Aug 25
Re: Kurt Zouma

That should read 70k not 70m

Rossal 9:32 Wed Aug 25
Re: Kurt Zouma

What does £10M get you up front these days? We need another quality striker to rotate/push Antonio

The chunk of our budget should be going on forward players not another CB when we already have 3 first team ones and 2 promising youngsters

Manuel 9:36 Wed Aug 25
Re: Kurt Zouma

Rossal - You are going over old ground. Antonio is clearly going to be our main forward this year. He will not be rotated, ffs. We will not be spending big money on a striker to sit on the bench or just play in cup games. Add to that a top striker will not want to join just to warm the bench.

Rossal 9:41 Wed Aug 25
Re: Kurt Zouma

Of course Antonio will be rotated, he cant play 50+ games, we need another striker to play Thursdays and/or be rotated in the league. That's if Antonio is even available.....he must be odds on to miss a stretch or 7 or 8 games at some point

If we are to do well, we need quality backing him up......you sign someone to come in and take their chance in Europe and to try and push his way into the side. Someone hungry who thinks he can be better than Antonio

Antonio is fantastic, but doesnt mean he is exempt from competition for his place. You need quality and depth in all areas if we are to do well this season. In our forward 4 there is only Lanzini and Yarmo providing any depth across 4 positions its bonkers

fraser 9:43 Wed Aug 25
Re: Kurt Zouma

360 - he starts easily over Dawson, we may have scored 8 but have let in 3..

I did say last week we needed an upgrade at CB and that's what Moyes wanted

An ITk on a well known other site reckons £70k a week.

Manuel 9:45 Wed Aug 25
Re: Kurt Zouma

Don't put words in my mouth, fella, I already said any new striker will play in cup games, so it's 38 games, now 36, not 50+..

He will NOT be rotated in the league, if he's fit he starts. if you disagree fine, but I think you're gonna be disappointed if you think we will spend big on a striker.

fraser 9:48 Wed Aug 25
Re: Kurt Zouma

Does anyone actually think Moyes would sign a prima Donna who acted like they were above us and doing us a favour, I sincerely doubt it. He's way too picky.

Manuel 9:49 Wed Aug 25
Re: Kurt Zouma

There are ways around these 'big wages' clubs and the agent/player can easily keep other parts of the contract quiet. All that may go out in the public domain is his weekly wage, but to appease the player and if the club think he's worth it they will add in bonuses, higher lump sum when he joins, luncheon vouchers, etc..

Rossal 9:52 Wed Aug 25
Re: Kurt Zouma

Youre mad if you think Antonio's body can play every single week.....especially after his European and Jamaican jaunts which will be added this season. As i said we all know he will miss a chunk of games at some point

You sign another quality striker to leave you with the ...minimum of 2 and you let them battle it out to start if both are fit. If not, then the drop in quality is hopefully minimal as atm we're utterly fucked if Antonio is out

We should have 50 ish games this season so there will be plenty of gametime for both and the competition should breed better performances

Stubbo 9:56 Wed Aug 25
Re: Kurt Zouma

My view on his wages...he's a Champions League winner and 26 years old. He probably commands 70 to 80k per week on that basis.

My impression of him as a player is in line with what I heard Simon Jordan say yesterday...a modern day Michael Duberry. Decent most of the time but prone to a ricket. Hopefully I'm wrong on that.

His passing and aerial dominance are both meant to be very good, he's a current France international, and he's a good age of he's to be our player long term. I'm *hoping* he's a similar signing to when we took Ogbonna from Juve and will go on to have a similar time of it.

Ogbonna was slated by the Juve fans, and sounded like we'd bought a pup, but look how he's turned out.

Biggest issue I have with the signing isn't him but the profile in general....we don't have big transfer budgets, so should be targeting players of 23 or so who are moving up to us, and can then move up again and earn us a profit (and thus give us fees to reinvest). Zouma is highly highly unlikely to ever go for significantly more than we're paying for him, so he needs to be good enough to be an acquisition for the long term (possibly until end of his career).

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