Premier League side West Ham United are looking at alternatives to Chelsea’s Kurt Zouma with Mykola Matviyenko and Mouctar Diakhaby as on their radar, as reported by 90Min.
While Tottenham’s pursuit of a new centre-half is starting to look about as drawn-out as their pursuit of a new manager, their old rivals from down the road are facing similar difficulties with just a month left in the transfer window.
West Ham are desperate to reinforce their backline before the end of August, having lost Fabian Balbuana to Dynamo Moscow recently.
As it stands, Craig Dawson, Angelo Ogbonna and Issa Diop are the only senior centre-halves at David Moyes’ disposal – and the latter is facing an uncertain future too, with Wolves and Southampton expressing their interest.
The Hammers have attempted to strike a deal with Chelsea for Zouma. But there is a long way to go before the France international can make the trip from Stamford Bridge to the London Stadium.
Chelsea are unlikely to accept West Ham’s £20 million offer and would prefer to send Zouma to Sevilla instead, as part of the deal that would see the Rolls Royce that is Jules Kounde go in the other direction.
Who will join West Ham if their Zouma pursuit fails?
It makes sense, then, for West Ham to scatter their eggs in a number of baskets, especially with so little time remaining in the market.
90Min claim that Matviyenko, a versatile Ukraine international who impressed at left-back in Euro 2020, is one option, West Ham having scouted the £20 million-rated Shakhtar Donetsk ace for over 12 months now.
The two-time Ukrainian Premier League champion could kill two birds with one stone too; equally comfortable at left-back or at centre-half.
90Min believe that Diakhaby, a giant Frenchman in the Zouma mould, is another option and he would come a lot cheaper than Matviyenko.
Cash-strapped Valencia want just £9 million for Diakhaby, who has also been linked with Newcastle and Leicester City.
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