Are West Ham making Kurt Zouma move simply to ensure they get prime target Nikola Milenkovic?

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West Ham United have been linked with a £20.5 million move for Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma but is it all a smokescreen?

The Hammers finally got their first major signing of the summer over the line this week with the arrival of Alphonse Areola.

The French World Cup winner has joined on a season-long loan with the option to buy for just £11m next summer.

That’s a bargain based on the fact Areola was officially the second best shot stopper in Europe last season.

Talk suggests West Ham used Johnstone interest to drive best possible deal for Hammers new boy Areola

West Ham had also been heavily linked with West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.

And claims in West Ham circles is that the Hammers hierarchy used that apparent interest to drive the best possible deal for Areola in negotiations with Paris Saint-Germain.

So could West Ham be employing a similar tactic in their centre-back search?

Fiorentina and Serbia star Nikola Milenkovic is said to be Moyes’s prime defensive target.

Is Moyes employing same tactic in bid to sign prime defensive target Milenkovic?

The 23-year-old – who can also play at right-back – has just one season left on his contract.

And Fiorentina have said they will sell him in the next few weeks if he does not sign a new deal. West Ham have reportedly tried to sign him on a £15m deal. But the Italian club are said to want between £20-25m for a player rated at £35m plus when he was not in the last year of his contract.

Milenkovic is billed as the new Nemanja Vidic – so it is understandable why Moyes wants him and West Ham fans are excited at the prospect of his signing.

There is no doubt Zouma would be a solid addition too. But many feel Milenkovic would be the better signing long term.

Fiorentina won’t want Milenkovic to stay and run down his contract to leave on a free. So talk they are trying a last ditch attempt to get him to sign a new contract may have been La Viola’s attempts to get West Ham to pay their reported asking price.

Zouma a quality addition but new Vidic is next level

So have West Ham responded by letting it be known in transfer circles that they will move for Zouma instead. And all as a smokescreen to force Fiorentina’s hand into accepting West Ham’s bid?

Time will tell. But it seems West Ham’s next priority is to get a defender signed.

That is understandable given Fabian Balbuena’s departure and the fact Angelo Ogbonna turns 34 next season.

Craig Dawson had an excellent debut campaign but he turns 32 next season and does not look the same player when Ogbonna is not alongside him.

Meanwhile there are doubts over Issa Diop’s ability to perform consistently at the top level and has been linked with a move away.

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