Jacob Steinberg has claimed that West Ham still haven’t given up on signing Kurt Zouma from Chelsea after their move to bring Nikola Milenkovic to East London stalled.
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The Guardian reporter has suggested that the Blues are holding out for at least £25 million:
Whilst the Frenchman is a good defender, something doesn’t quite add up here.
So according to ExWHUemployee, West Ham agreed a fee to sign Fiorentina centre-back Nikola Milenkovic. Personal terms were also agreed with the player himself.
The Serbian international’s agent was demanding extortionate fees, however (ExWHUemployee). It is believed that the agent was asking for around £5 million. And because of that, the move has stalled for now.
Something smells fishy.
West Ham Zouma swoop makes no sense after Milenkovic saga
If West Ham want Zouma, they will have to pay around £30 million including agent fees and signing on fees etc.
If they wanted to sign Milenkovic, however, they would have had to pay just £14 million (Tuttomercatoweb) in transfer fees plus £5 million in agent fees.
So a deal to sign the Fiorentina ace would be more than £10 million cheaper than pursuing a move for Zouma.
Milenkovic is three years younger and a better all-round defender as well!
So why would West Ham complain about the price but then be open to paying way more for an inferior and older player?
Something doesn’t add up.
Perhaps Zouma is a smokescreen for Milenkovic? Perhaps David Moyes would prefer to sign the Chelsea man over the Fiorentina ace?
Or perhaps both stories have no truth to them? Who really knows. In fact, nobody will know in the end.
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All we can hope for is that Moyes manages to bring at least one top-class centre-back to the London Stadium before the transfer window slams shut.