West Ham to ‘scrap’ Zouma pursuit over Chelsea defender’s wage demands

West Ham are set to ‘scrap’ their pursuit of Kurt Zouma from Chelsea because of the defender’s wage demands.

West Ham are interested in signing Zouma from their London rivals with the centre-back having been deemed surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge, the Hammers having held negotiations with Chelsea over a £20m deal for the France international.

Zouma had changed his stance against an initial move across the capital, though the Sun are reporting that a deal is set to be scrapped as a result of the player’s demands.

The 26-year-old is understood to want a contract worth £120,000-a-week at West Ham, almost double the £65,000-a-week the defender currently earns at Chelsea.

David Moyes’ side are unwilling to match those demands and ‘blow apart their wage structure’, with the Hammers set to move on to alternative targets should a significant compromise not be found.

Fiorentina’s Nikola Milenkovic had been mentioned as a potential transfer target for Moyes, though discussions have reportedly stalled and Tottenham have now emerged as suitors for the Serbia international.

Chelsea’s sales are set to continue however, with the Blues set to confirm the sale of Tammy Abraham after the forward completed a medical ahead of a £34m move to Roma, whilst Michy Batshuayi is also set to leave with the Belgium international close to completing a loan move to Besiktas.

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