West Ham want to move on club captain Kurt Zouma this summer, but the Frenchman could well want to remain in east London.

As has been reported in Hammers News, the club would be happy to move Zouma on this summer. The no-nonsense defender doesn’t suit Julen Lopetegui’s style of play, and with his long-term fitness issues, it would make a lot of sense to move him on.

The Hammers would likely have to take a hit on the £30m they signed him for back in August 2021 if he was to stay in Europe. It would be unlikely that a team in Europe could make an acceptable offer and also be able to pay his wages.

However, its also been reported that the club are hoping to receive bids for the defender, particularly Saudi Arabia. This could mean the club would potentially receive the £30m fee and some, and they would also be able to cover all, if not triple his wages.

If Zouma was to leave the club, the fans would be full of mixed emotions, The former Chelsea defender was a huge fan favourite in his first year at the club, he fit the early Moyes system to a tee. He wasn’t required to get on the ball and pass too much, which was his biggest weakness.

It started to decline for Zouma in his second season, his performances started to drop alongside West Ham’s performances in 22/23. However, his importance in the conference league victory kept him a fan favourite at the London Stadium.

Despite a much better domestic campaign last season, West Ham fans grew impatient with Zouma and wanted to see him dropped. Teams began to sit back against us a lot more due to the amount of talent we have in attack. This meant Zouma had to play further up the pitch, meaning he received the ball a lot more in attacking situations and that just doesn’t suit his style at all.

Also, being higher up the pitch exposed him defensively due to his lack of pace, the ball got in behind him so much compared to Mavropanos who has the recovery pace and is much more comfortable on the ball.

Julen Lopetegui will likely demand his centre-backs even further up the pitch, which is why he would like Zouma to depart. The club has been heavily linked with Max Kilman, who Lopetegui loved at Wolves, Nehuen Perez of Udinese, and Trevoh Chalobah. These are all players that would fit the new manager’s system better than Kurt Zouma.