West Ham’s Kurt Zouma could be faced with the dilemma of signing a new contract with his current club or making big money in Saudi Arabia.

Since joining the Hammers, Zouma has been a fan favourite. His determination and fight for the badge has led to “Zou” being echoed around the stadium every time he wins the ball. 

The now captain of West Ham has just 18 months remaining on his contract and, following Jarrod Bowen’s new deal, the club are now expected to move on to new contracts for the French defender and Lucas Paqueta, as was exclusively revealed by ExWHUEmployee on The West Ham Way Patreon earlier this week.

However, as many teams have experienced recently, Saudi Arabia could be there to throw a spanner in the mix. According to 90min.com multiple Saudi Pro League teams are keeping a close eye on the 28-year-old.

When you watch Zouma it’s clear to see how much love he has for this club and he feels like one of our own. He’s also made it clear how honoured he is to be named captain by David Moyes. Add the fact that our fans stuck by him during his controversy, on paper it would be ridiculous for him to leave.

Unfortunately for us, money talks. The Saudi’s bottomless pit of money has meant that obscene wages are being offered to players and has been an issue for essentially every big club. If they are to come in for Zouma, they would need to offer a ridiculous sum of money for us to even consider letting him go but, if it does come to that, it will be down to whether the player values the admiration of the East end of London more than the Middle East’s money.

No matter how much we offer our captain, we won’t be able to compete financially with any Saudi Arabian club. It is crucial that we are swift with getting contract negotiations done and dusted to remove any worry about losing our third captain in just two and a half years.

By Charlie Bass