Irons Keen But Not Desperate For Zouma!

"West Ham in race against clock to get Kurt Zouma registered in time to play Crystal Palace"

That is a rather confusing leading line, but one that the majority of news sources are 'churning out' today. Sky lead with "West Ham have until 12pm tomorrow (Friday) to get Kurt Zouma registered in time to play against Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday", that is according to Dharmesh Sheth who when speaking on Sky Sports News on Wednesday, reported that Hammers are “close to agreeing a deal” for the 26 year old Chelsea centre back.

This statement doesn't ring true though does it? Anyone who has had anything to do with David Moyes, or even those who haven't will surely know how he goes about integrating new players into his set up. There is no way in a month of Sundays that Moyes would suddenly drop either Angelo Ogbonna or 'Les' Dawson in order to 'make space' for his new signing, that is assuming greedy agent syndrome doesn't screw the deal up, we'll mention more about that later.

Moyes is naturally a cautious man, he would prefer to be called pragmatic, but whichever way he is viewed it is generally acknowledged that he does tend to get most things right, particularly in light of his last 18 months' achievements. Why on earth would he want to 'upset the apple cart now? The old adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it must surely apply at this moment in time?

Unless there are hidden plans to sell Issa Diop in the near future, it is generally safe to assume that Moyes sees Diop and Zouma as a defensive partnership that can be relied upon for many years to come. If you also factor in Alphonse Areola's availability, there is every chance that Hammers could have a very 'Gallic' back line. 'Cressw(i)ll have to learn French, Vlad the impaler and Tomas Soucek already speak it, as does Authur Masuaku and the potentially rarely to be used Mark Noble can chip in quite eloquently.

Agents are never popular at the best of times and their 'influence' on deals is rarely positive, so news that the Zouma deal is being held up by agents should come as no surprise, irrespective of how frustrating their actions are, it's part of the modern game. Although we don't have our Doris the Tea Lady at the Dome, we do have an excellent source of information at Chelsea, our 'agent' has informed us that the clubs have worked out an amicable payment plan that suits both parties, however the sticking point is Zouma's agent who wants his client's wages doubled from £65,000 per week to £130,000 per week!

Paying £130,000 per week for a centre back might be acceptable for some clubs, indeed it would probably have been agreed during the Pellegrini profligacy era at West Ham, but having struggled to get rid of the club's high earners, the last thing Moyes will want is for player discontent to set in as a result of a new player arriving on disproportionately high wages, it just won't work.

We have been told that attempts to circumnavigate the problem by using 'creative' incentive payments are so far proving marginally successful, but Moyes won't be held to ransom if the pay off has a negative effect on the 'band of brothers' he has already assembled.

The International break is fast looming and would represent an ideal period of time for Zouma, should he arrive, to be introduced to Moyes' squad, although there will obviously be absentees due to call ups, including Zouma himself, but that bridge can be crossed after it has been reached. LN