Former West Ham captain Kurt Zouma is edging closer to a return to professional football, thanks in part to a man who won four Premier League titles in the red of Manchester United.
Now, the one-time Chelsea, Everton and Stoke City colossus might not have been one of the four experienced campaigners released on July 1st, but he wasn’t far behind.
And while Vladimir Coufal, Aaron Cresswell and Danny Ings have found employment over the last two months – the latter joined Sheffield United last week, Cresswell is at Stoke and Coufal made a very impressive start to German life with Hoffenheim – Kurt Zouma remains without a club.
Though that looks set to change.
Zouma was linked with Spanish giants Valencia earlier in the summer but, apart from that, genuine links have been few and far between for a man who inherited the West Ham United captaincy from Declan Rice in 2023.
And if you were to draw up a list of potential destinations, it’s probably safe to assume that Romania and CFR Cluj would not have featured particularly highly.
Former West Ham United captain Kurt Zouma set for Romania switch with CFR Cluj
According to Digi Sport, Zouma is now just ‘one step away’ from becoming one of the most high-profile signings in Romanian football’s modern history.
CFR Cluj could reportedly unveil the eleven-time France international as early as Wednesday.
And Cristi Balaj, president of the eight-time Romanian league champions, has now hinted that a deal may be imminent. Pressed on how Cluj could find the money to sign a defender who reportedly earned over £100,000-a-week in London, Balaj admitted that the arrival of Mikael Silvestre as the club’s new sporting director was a massive factor.
“For him to sign, a lot of things have to happen. He’s in Cluj. When the announcement appears on the website, then I’ll speak. I have a rule, I can’t speak before it appears on the website,” Balaj begins, speaking to Digi Sport.
“There are chances, yes. There are chances, probably tomorrow [on Wednesday, Zouma could be announced]. Now, he’s here. Mikael Silvestre helps, he helps us in this aspect.
“He comes from a free agent position. I can’t give more details.”
Victor Angelescu thinks Zouma will be ‘exceptional’ in Romanian football
While former Man United and Arsenal ace Silvestre sorts out the financial aspects, Zouma will bring his considerable top-level experience and his proven quality to a team desperate to go one step further after successive second-place finishes.
“From a resume perspective, he’s one of the best players to sign [for a club in] our league,” Victor Angelescu, president of Club’s top-flight rivals Rapid Bucharest, tells Prima Sport.
“His age isn’t bad [Zouma is still only 30] and, if he doesn’t have any medical issues, he could be an exponential player. I think it’s a big shot. If he doesn’t have any physical issues, he should be one of the best players in our league, maybe even the best.”
“I repeat, if he doesn’t have medical problems, Kurt Zouma has no way of not playing well in Romania.”
Of the other players to leave West Ham on a free transfer, Michail Antonio is still weighing up his options.
Lukasz Fabianski rejected a return to Polish football with Legia Warsaw, meanwhile, as the veteran goalkeeper looks to stay in London.
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
