4
Kurt
Zouma
Defender
  • Captain
Kurt Zouma
Shoots
Right
Signed
28/08/2021
Height
190 cm
Born
27/10/1994
Debut
16/09/2021
Debut Fixture
Dinamo Zagreb vs West Ham United (Thu, 16/09/2021 - 17:45)
Nationality
France
Weight
95 kg

France international Kurt Zouma was appointed as West Ham United captain at the start of the 2023/24 season.

The central defender accumulated two Premier League titles, one UEFA Champions’ League winner's medal and one EFL Cup winner's medal during a seven-year career with Chelsea prior to moving across London to join the Hammers in 2021.

Capped by his country at senior level, the Lyon-born player helped the Irons reach the UEFA Europa League semi-finals in spring 2022 before lifting the UEFA Europa Conference League trophy in June 2023.

Career

2022/23

Appeared as a late substitute in West Ham United's UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round win at Viborg FF in Denmark on 25 August 2022...Scored in West Ham United's 2-0 Premier League home win over AFC Bournemouth on 24 October 2022...Started both legs of West Ham United's UEFA Europa Conference League round of 16 win over AEK Larnaca in March 2023...Scored West Ham United's goal in a 5-1 home Premier League defeat by Newcastle United on 5 April 2023...Started West Ham United's UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final second leg win over KAA Gent at London Stadium on 20 April 2023...Started West Ham United's UEFA Europa Conference League semi-final victory over AZ Alkmaar in May 2023... Started West Ham United's UEFA Europa Conference League final victory over ACF Fiorentina in Prague on 7 June 2023, playing for 61 minutes before being substituted through injury...Totaled 25 Premier League appearances, 24 of them starts, with two goals and seven clean sheets...Totaled UEFA Europa Conference League appearances, six of them starts, and all of them wins!

2021/22

Signed for West Ham United from Chelsea on an initial four-year contract on 28 August 2021...Made his debut for West Ham United by starting the 2-0 UEFA Europa League Group H win at Dinamo Zagreb on 16 September 2021...Scored West Ham United's third goal in a 3-2 Premier League victory over Liverpool at London Stadium on 7 November 2021...Recalled to the France squad and started a 2-0 FIFA World Cup qualifying win in Finland on 16 November 2021...Suffered a hamstring tendon injury in the 3-2 Premier League win over Chelsea at London Stadium on 28 November 2021...Missed seven Premier League matches and one UEFA Europa League tie before returning in the 1-0 Premier League defeat at Manchester United on 22 January 2022...Started both legs of the UEFA Europa League round of 16 win over Sevilla in March 2022...Provided an assist for Michail Antonio in a 2-1 UEFA Europa League semi-final first-leg defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt at London Stadium on 28 April 2022...Kept seven clean sheets and scored one goal in 33 appearances in all competitions.

Before West Ham

​Born in the French city of Lyon to immigrants from the Central African Republic...Started his career as a nine-year-old at local Fifth Division side FC Valux-en-Velin...Continued at Le Pôle Espoirs Football de Dijon, an academy run in conjunction with the French Football Federation...Had his prodigious potential identified by Saint-Étienne, who signed him as a 15-year-old in 2009...Penned a first professional contract at the end of the 2010/11 season...Initially played without a name on his shirt to shield him from media attention...Made his professional debut at just 16 on 31 August 2011, playing the full 90 minutes of Saint-Étienne’s 3-1 Couple de la Ligue win over Bordeaux...Made his Ligue 1 debut in September 2011 at Lorient...Scored his first professional goal in November 2011 in a 2-0 win over Nice...At 18, played the full 90 minutes of Saint-Étienne’s 1-0 win over Rennes in the 2013 Coupe de la Ligue final...Playing alongside Alphonse Areola, was part of the France side that won the the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey, starting every game from the final group fixture onwards and scoring in the quarter-finals against Uzbekistan...Made his debut in European competition in a 3-0 win over Moldovan team Milsami on 8 August 2013...Signed for Chelsea on transfer deadline day in January 2014, before immediately returning to Saint-Étienne on loan for the remainder of the season...In September 2014, made his first competitive appearance for Chelsea, scoring the opening goal in a 2-1 win over Bolton Wanderers in the EFL Cup, before making Champions League and Premier League debuts the following month, the latter in a 1-1 draw at Manchester United...Earned his first Premier League winner’s medal with Chelsea in his debut campaign, 2014/15...Demonstrated his versatility in successfully man-marking Christian Eriksen as a defensive midfielder in their 2-0 win over Tottenham in the 2015 EFL Cup final...Called up to the senior France squad for the first time in March 2015...Made his senior France debut at his former club ground – Saint-Étienne’s Stade Geoffroy-Guichard – as a substitute against Denmark in March 2015, but saw his progress halted by an injury which ruled him out of the 2016 UEFA European Championship finals in his home country...Returned to earn nine appearances – and another winner's medal – in Chelsea’s successful 2016/17 Premier League campaign...Two seasons of regular first-team football and 73 appearances on loan at Stoke City and Everton granted him the opportunity to reassert himself in England’s top-flight, leading to his first start for France in June 2019 – an occasion Zouma once again marked with a goal in a 4-0 win over Andorra...Made 36 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea in 2020/21, winning the UEFA Champions League...Signed off his career with Chelsea by winning the 2021 UEFA Super Cup before making his switch from west to east London.​

Honours

Club Honours

Saint-Étienne

Coupe de la Ligue (2013)

Chelsea

Premier League (2014/15, 2016/17)
EFL Cup (2015)
UEFA Champions League (2021)
UEFA Super Cup (2021)

West Ham United

UEFA Europa Conference League (2023)

 

International Honours

France

FIFA U20 World Cup (2013)

Individual Honours

Chelsea Young Player of the Year (2014/15)