London rivals set to end pursuit of Chelsea’s 26-year-old defender

West Ham could give up pursuit of Kurt Zouma as they look at alternatives

According to transfer news from Football.london, West Ham could give up on their pursuit of Kurt Zouma. They have been rebuffed by Zouma’s wage demands and are now looking towards alternatives. Duje Caleta-Car and Nikola Milenkovic are the names they are looking at.

Kurt Zouma has had quite the journey at Chelsea since joining them in 2014. He was seen as one of the best upcoming defenders in the Ligue 1 and Jose Mourinho snapped him up during his second spell at the club. A long term injury in that season derailed his progress and since then he has been out on loan spells to Stoke and Everton.

Zouma was among the regulars under Frank Lampard but was sidelined once Thomas Tuchel took over. The likes of Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Silva and Christensen were largely preferred by the German and it was hard to question his choices given he did lead them to a Champions League.

Now, the French defender has been linked with a move away from the Bridge. Chelsea are also said to be open to the idea of letting him leave with a general agreement with West Ham over the fee. However, Zouma’s wage demands could now see West Ham drop their interest in him. They have already lined up the likes of Duje Caleta-Car and Nikola Milenkovic as alternatives.

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This is quite a headache for Chelsea given that they would have liked a club to take Zouma off their hands. West Ham are ready to do so but now Zouma is holding up the deal. Chelsea might have to convince the player in accepting the offer soon as West Ham could soon walk away from this deal to pursue others.