The way that David Moyes has to deal with West Ham United centre-back Kurt Zouma really is hugely worrying.
David Moyes brought Kurt Zouma to West Ham from Chelsea in the summer of 2021 for around £30 million (Daily Mail), and he has proven to be a brilliant signing and a real leader for us.
Moyes even made him the Hammers club captain at the start of the season after Declan Rice’s exit, and alongside Arsenal ace William Saliba, he has been one of the hardest defenders to dribble past this term.
Despite his reliability on the pitch, there is a big concern about Zouma – his fitness issues that stem from his knee problem.
Given Zouma’s injury history, it was no surprise that David Sullivan tried to pull the plug on the deal to sign him two-and-a-half years ago.
The Frenchman is now 29, and Moyes is having to manage his fitness already. That’s a really bad sign in my opinion, and his fitness problems will only get worse as he gets older…
David Moyes treatment of Kurt Zouma a big worry
The former Chelsea man wasn’t in the squad at all for our Europa League clash with Olympiacos a few weeks ago, and he was an unused substitute last night.
Moyes took Zouma off on the 64 minute mark during our 5-0 defeat to Fulham on Sunday, and he has only played 14 games for West Ham from a possible 24 this season (Transfermarkt).
Even when the 29-year-old is supposedly fit and playing games, he can hardly walk by the time the final whistle has blown.
He is an absolute warrior for us defensively, and marshals the backline with true authority and real leadership.
However, Kurt Zouma really shouldn’t be having such bad issues with his knees at just 29, and it’s a massive worry for the Hammers that David Moyes is already having to manage the centre-back’s game-time at this stage of his career.
As mentioned earlier, these sort of things only get worse as time goes on. Zouma is a vital player for us, but the fact that he’s not reliable from a fitness perspective makes me think that Moyes will be on the hunt for a top-class centre-back either in January or the summer.
READ ALSO:
Kurt Zouma disagrees with David Moyes after Fulham thrashing
West Ham players are knackered, Tony Gale says only one man is to blame
The fact that £53k-a-week West Ham man started against Fulham is an absolute joke
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
