David Moyes has told football.london that Kurt Zouma has been a ‘colossus’ for West Ham United since his summer transfer from Chelsea, despite France dropping the defender.
Zouma moved across the capital in late August for £30m, before joining Didier Deschamps’ squad for their September internationals. The 26-year-old also started two of their World Cup qualifiers last month, but lost his place for the current break.
Moyes hopes Deschamps has used Les Bleus’ UEFA Nations League semi-final with Belgium as a chance to look at more options, than overlook Zouma as he is now a West Ham player. As the Irons boss knows France are blessed with top depth in central defence.
Additionally, Moyes would struggle to fault what Zouma has shown so far since his transfer to West Ham from Chelsea. The 10-cap international has started the Hammers’ last three Premier League games, plus their Europa League tie with Dinamo Zagreb.
“I would hope not,” Moyes said on Deschamps possibly dropping Zouma over a big club bias. “We are trying to challenge the top teams because I want to be right there at the top, and those players can show they are good enough to play for the international teams.”
Adding: “Kurt has played really, really well for us. He’s been a colossus in the games he has played, so his form will not go unnoticed. I think it is a Nations League game, so maybe that is a reason for it. Maybe it is the quality of the centre-halves France have got.
“When I signed him, I knew we were taking a French international centre-half [and they] have an incredible quality of centre-halves, and he has not disappointed us from what we have seen so far.”
Zouma impressive but not perfect under Moyes at West Ham
Zouma enjoyed an excellent West Ham debut when Moyes unleashed the defender against Dinamo Zagreb last month. He showed himself to be a natural leader alongside Issa Diop and displayed great awareness to cover any dangerous attacks.
That continued into his Premier League bow against Manchester United, with Zouma only letting Cristiano Ronaldo feed off scraps. Although his showing against Leeds was slightly less impressive when put on the back foot, despite commanding the air well.
He also struggled at times to match Ivan Toney’s pace as Brentford won 2-1 at the London Stadium last weekend. So, while Moyes can hardly fault Zouma, there have been flaws in the defender’s displays for West Ham that Deschamps will not want in the France side.
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