According to 90min, West Ham are concerned that Kurt Zouma has a long-term degenerative knee injury.
What’s the story?
Well, the France international was only signed in a £29.8m deal from Chelsea last August.
However, West Ham are worried that he may have an underlying issue.
90min add that Nayef Aguerd is unlikely to be back before the World Cup in November, while Angelo Ogbonna and Craig Dawson are still yet to reach full fitness.
It means Zouma is the only senior option in the centre-back department who is available to David Moyes, although the Hammers will be wary of overplaying the 27-year-old after learning of his knee problem.
The Frenchman made 24 Premier League appearances for the east Londoners last season, and has played every minute of the current Premier League campaign.
However, those on the recruitment team will surely be worried about Zouma’s knee problem flaring up at any point, especially with West Ham’s other centre-back options injured.
A deal for Thilo Kehrer is also progressing well, according to 90min, so Moyes will hopefully have another centre-back option to call upon soon.
How did West Ham miss Kurt Zouma issue?
Surely, if Zouma does have a long-term degenerative knee issue, it would’ve been picked up during his medical.
For example, Liverpool pulled out of a £53m deal for Nabil Fekir in 2018 after finding out that the Frenchman was susceptible to a long-term injury in future, due to an underlying problem.
If West Ham really are concerned about Zouma’s issue, then he shouldn’t have been signed in the first place.
£29.8m is no small amount of money, nor is the defender’s salary package worth £100,000-a-week.
When making such an expensive signing, you have to be sure about the player’s fitness – if something serious happens to Zouma, West Ham will only have themselves to blame.
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