Newcastle United are still on the lookout for additions in the January transfer market, according to reports – but one player they won’t be signing is Kurt Zouma, after they turned down the chance to sign the Frenchman on a free transfer.
Zouma, who won the Champions League with Chelsea back in 2021, last played in English football 18 months ago for West Ham United, though he’s failed to stamp his mark in the major European game since.
And the colossal defender is still waiting for his chance to return to England – with reports stating that Newcastle have snubbed his arrival despite a need for players through the door in the final stages of the window.
Ryder: Newcastle Offered Late Deal to Sign Zouma, Club Reject Chance
West Ham United’s Kurt Zouma
The report by The Chronicle’s Magpies correspondent, Lee Ryder, states that Newcastle were among a ‘clutch’ of clubs to have been offered Kurt Zouma on a free transfer, but they turned any potential move down.
It’s been a strange few years for the 11-time France cap. Once billed as a promising youngster whilst in his early days at Saint-Etienne and Chelsea, injuries played their part, though he still had a strong career in the Premier League.
However, from the end of the 2023-24 campaign, he’s failed to play in an elite European league. Zouma signed for Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Orobah in 2024, and has since turned out for Romanian side CFR Cluj, though he left in January having failed to fight his way into the first-team.
It’s clear to see why Newcastle don’t want him. Zouma’s inability to feature for a full ninety minutes makes him no different from the rest of Newcastle’s defence, with an injury crisis striking down Fabian Schar, Emil Krafth and Tino Livramento, and Sven Botman has equally proven to be injury prone in his time in the north east.
Howe also shut down a number of loan deals on Tuesday evening, which could bring their transfer business to a halt.
Newcastle Will Enter the Champions League Playoffs Needing Defenders
Although the Toon managed to draw away to Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain on the night in the French capital, they still qualified for the knockout play-offs with relative ease.
Their draw could take them as close as Paris again, all the way to Azerbaijan to face Qarabag, or even to Norway to square off against giant-killing Bodo/Glimt.
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But they may have to do so with a depleted defence, one that doesn’t contain Zouma, with the former Chelsea man still in need of a club if he is turned down by a swathe of clubs as deadline day looms.
