French club Lens could be about to save West Ham from making a truly woeful signing with Denis Zakaria bid ahead of a reported Hammers meeting.
Imagine selling one of your best midfielders for generations and replacing him with a distinctly average player who has flopped at his last two clubs and could not get into a Chelsea team who finished 12th.
Well that is what West Ham are about to do if reports of a move for Denis Zakaria are accurate.
Tim Steidten is in the door, the summer transfer window for international deals is officially open and Declan Rice is close to finally leaving West Ham in a British record £105m deal.
So now West Ham boss David Moyes must start to focus on reshaping his side in key areas with the biggest priority clearly being central midfield.
The Hammers have been linked with a plethora of midfielders in the last two months.
Hammers increasingly linked with move for Zakaria as Rice replacement
And Zakaria is one name who has been linked with West Ham extensively over the last week or so.
It has been reported that West Ham are set for a meeting with Juventus in London on Wednesday to discuss a deal for the Swiss midfielder, who is said to be valued at around £17m.
Fans are desperate to see West Ham start to make signings with plenty of work to do.
It’s vital West Ham get it right when it comes to using the Rice money wisely and improving the squad.
Some Hammers fans are still haunted by the garbage the club wasted the Rio Ferdinand money on all those years ago.
The same mistakes cannot be made this time if West Ham want to progress.
Replacing Rice with Zakaria should raise red flags.
This is a player who completely flopped at both Juventus and Chelsea. And it is a seriously underwhelming target for West Ham fans.
Swiss has flopped at last two clubs and has seriously questionable pedigree
Zakaria is a 26-year-old Switzerland international who Juve purchased from Borussia Monchengladbach in January 2022 for €10m (£8.5m).
But he completely failed to make an impact at Juventus, playing just 15 games.
Zakaria was then loaned out to Chelsea last season for a £1.5m fee with an option to buy.
But he fared even worse at Chelsea, making 11 appearances – mostly as sub – and the Blues decided not to activate their option to purchase the Swiss defensive midfielder.
Now Juve are so desperate to get rid of him they are sending delegates to London in the hope West Ham will take the midfielder off their hands.
His average match rating in his career so far is just 6.5/10 – hardly a ringing endorsement of the midfielder’s abilities.
French club Lens could be about to save West Ham from making a truly woeful signing with Denis Zakaria bid
Zakaria does boast respectable passing statistics but everything else – including his all-important defensive numbers – are distinctly average at best.
But French club Lens could be about to save West Ham from making a truly woeful signing with a Zakaria bid ahead of the Hammers meeting.
According to Foot Mercato Lens want Zakaria this summer. And they have Champions League football to offer after their best season since 1998.
With uncertainty over the future of brilliant former West Ham target Seko Fofana – who is being linked with a big money move to Saudi – Lens are said to want to sign two central midfielders this summer.
And alleged Hammers target Zakaria is one of them.
There have been suggestions new West Ham technical director Steidten is a fan of Zakaria from his time in Germany.
But all the evidence suggests he is not up to the job of filling Rice’s shoes.
So let’s hope Lens can save West Ham from themselves.
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