Serious Kurt Zouma concerns light fire on West Ham hunt for new defender claims board source

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Serious Kurt Zouma concerns are lighting a fire on West Ham United’s hunt for new defender in January claims a board source.

There is no doubting Kurt Zouma is one of West Ham’s best players when fit.

But since his £29.5m arrival from Chelsea, the problem has been regular spells on the sidelines.

West Ham signed Konstantinos Mavropanos in the summer having lost Craig Dawson last January.

Hammers have serious Zouma concerns

But they are about to ship Thilo Kehrer out to Monaco. And Nayef Aguerd – away at AFCON with Morocco – is also being heavily linked with a move away after Hammers News stated before Arsenal he may have played his last game for West Ham.

Angelo Ogbonna continues to be a fantastic servant for the Hammers. And he may stick around for another season as back-up.

But against that backdrop it is clear David Moyes may well need more cover at the back.

Especially after word from Hammers insider Sean Whetstone.

Because serious Zouma concerns are lighting a fire on the West Ham hunt for a new defender claims the board source.

Issues light fire on hunt for new defender

Whetstone says Zouma’s persistent knee issues – which have seen him on the sidelines over Christmas – and inability to play the majority of West Ham’s games have seen Moyes concede he must look to bring in a new centre-back in the January transfer window.

“There is a growing concern over Kurt Zouma’s ability to play many games in a season for West Ham,” Whetstone said.

“Zouma managed to play 32 games last season from a total of 57 competitive games played by the Hammers and has managed 16 from 29 so far this season but he has struggled to play multiple games in a week and there remains long term concern over his knees after surgery in 2022.

“Moyes is likely to prioritise more cover in the centre of defence this January.”

West Ham have been linked with four defenders from Bundesliga as well as Joe Worrall, Harry Maguire and Max Kilman.

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