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Tony Cascarino admits he is ‘surprised’ Arsenal and Tottenham did not consider signing Kurt Zouma from Chelsea last summer.
French defender Zouma made 152 appearances for the Blues during his five-year spell at Stamford Bridge, winning two Premier League titles and the Champions League in west London.
The 27-year-old was on the bench for Chelsea’s Champions League final victory over Manchester City last season but was deemed surplus to requirements over the summer and sold to London rivals West Ham in a deal worth £30m.
Zouma has already begun to impress for David Moyes’ in-form Hammers and Cascarino is surprised Arsenal and Tottenham didn’t rival West Ham for his signature.
‘You see [Kurt] Zouma at centre-half, who has done well at West Ham,’ he told talkSPORT. ‘I was surprised that no one else went in for him.
‘I thought both Arsenal and Tottenham needed that type of centre-half. Yet West Ham have been able to get that deal over the line and he’s doing well.’
Zouma was rested for West Ham’s Europa League clash against Genk on Thursday night but saw his team-mates secure their place in the knockout stages with a 2-2 draw in Moyes’ 1,000th match as a manager.
‘I think on reflection a draw is the right result. Genk started better and we needed our keeper to make some good saves,’ Moyes said.
‘In the end we got two goals and it looked like it would be enough but for the own-goal. Lots of credit to Genk.
‘I look at it that we’ve qualified, and the other part of it is we’re still new to this. We are trying to keep players fresh for the Premier League, so somewhere along the line it was going to get bumpy. And Genk made it bumpy.’
Tottenham were also in action on Thursday night and beat Vitesse 3-2 in Antonio Conte’s first match in charge of the club.
Former Chelsea and Inter Milan manager Conte said: ‘We need to have a bit of patience because we need to work on many aspects – tactically and physically.
‘I’m not afraid about the work. I know only through the work you can reach important targets.’
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Source: Metro Sport
