Former West Ham United captain Kurt Zouma has very little to show for his short and ill-fated spell at CFR Cluj. Well, on the pitch, that is.
As far as his bank balance goes, the big French centre-back is around a quarter of a million euros richer.
CFR Cluj were certainly taking a princely punt on Kurt Zouma – especially after the one-time Champions League winner struggled for fitness in Saudi Arabia – but, still, few could have imagined that they would receive so little return on a historic investment.
Zouma, who helped West Ham United secure UEFA Conference League glory in 2023, made an unexpected switch to Romania when his contract was not renewed at the London Stadium.
What would you say if you heard West Ham could RE-SIGN Kurt Zouma? 🇫🇷
His arrival was dubbed by many as the most high-profile signing in the history of Romanian domestic football. He was certainly among the most expensive.
Cluj hoped that Zouma would bring Champions League football back to a side who famously defeated Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United at Old Trafford at one point. Instead, he departs only four games and 197 minutes later, with Cluj closer to the Romanian top-flight’s relegation zone than he is the European spots.
Ioan Varga explains why Cluj released former West Ham United captain Kurt Zouma
For a short and exciting period, Romania threatened to become a new-found landing spot for ageing, big-name talents in need of a new challenge.
Hakim Ziyech was linked with Cluj too; Zouma’s former Stamford Bridge teammate. One-time Newcastle and Leicester striker Islam Slimani joined shortly after a transfer which, at the time, seemed to open the door for others while putting Romanian football on the map.
Or, at least, that was the idea.
Zouma’s CFR Cluj contract was terminated this week. Costing the club nearly £3,000 for every minute he spent on the pitch, this proved to be less of a masterstroke of transformative proportions, and instead a very costly misstep.
“We say goodbye peacefully, amicably. I respect him a lot and we had a good relationship, but we have to restrict the budget,” Cluj owner Ioan Varga told Digi Sport.
“We also have the financial fair play monitoring from UEFA, and it is harder to sustain high salaries if you have not qualified for the European cups.”
Of the eleven players to start for West Ham during their 2-1 victory over Fiorentina in Prague, only four remain two years on. Jarrod Bowen, Alphonse Areola, Tomas Soucek and Lucas Paqueta.
That number could drop to three, as Paqueta pushes to re-join Brazilian powerhouses Flamengo this month.
Romanian giants only had Zouma on the pitch four times
Lucas Paqueta ‘wants to leave West Ham’ in the midst of a relegation battle – what’s your reaction?!
What was the point in this then? 🤔
Iuliu Muresan was parachuted in as Cluj’s new president recently, replacing Cristi Balaj at the helm. Balaj was the man who pushed so hard for Zouma’s arrival. Irresponsibly so, it now appears. Because with Cluj now having to face up to financial concerns of their own making, a summer of splashing the cash has been replaced by a winter of austerity.
Muresan shone a light on Zouma’s physical decline back in December, in conversation with Fanatik.
If West Ham had any lingering temptation about extending the 31-year-old’s contract when he returned from that loan spell at Al-Orobah, Muresan’s comments prove that the time was certainly right for both parties to go their separate ways.
“Zouma is injured. He’s very positive, a good guy, but we need fit players who want it,” the president said.
“He wants to play, he has quality character, he has an impressive physique, but he has some problems with both knees. It’s hard for him to play football at this level anymore.”
Zouma ruptured his cruciate ligament in his early days at Chelsea, and then suffered knee issues during his time with West Ham.
“Thank you to all the fans! I wish you all the best,” he wrote on Instagram after his departure from the eight-time Romanian champions was confirmed.
“It was a short journey. It wasn’t meant to be. But this is God’s plan. [I am still] eager for more.”
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