Reports rotating in the rumour mill are claiming that Sevilla midfielder Steven N’Zonzi is angling for a move back to the Premier League. His recent claim that he “loves” the English league has put everyone on red alert including Arsenal, the neighbouring clubs of Manchester and Everton. The latest English boys to join them is West Ham United.
N’Zonzi has previously played for Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City in the Premier League. His English league career was not the biggest hit and the dynamic midfielder ended up moving to Spain by joining Sevilla in the year of 2015 on a four-year contract.
However, things at Sevilla appears to have turned sour for the Frenchman. After Sevilla’s 3-3 draw with Liverpool, Sevilla coach appeared to have shouldered the blame on N’Zonzi.
‘The coach pointed the finger at me [at half-time of the Liverpool game]. I will not repeat it … but his words affected me,’ N’Zonzi told France Football.
Publicly, he said in future he would only select players who fit his vision for football. What does that mean? ‘Whether in a 4-3-3, 3-5-2 or any other formation, a player must adapt to what his coach demands and I have always done it. ‘The fact I was always professional despite the circumstances, that I always did my job, I found it unfair.
‘My future is clearly away from Seville. The only thing that disappoints me is the way it has ended.’
It now appears that Moyes has gone public with his interest to bring in the wantaway midfielder.
“I think he’s somebody who would be of interest to us if he came on the market,” said Moyes of N’Zonzi. “I wouldn’t say that about others, but he’s not playing for some reason at Sevilla – albeit the manager’s gone, so maybe that changes the situation there. Overall, it’s not something I can say I’ve done anything with.”
As for the West Ham board making funds available for the Scot, Moyes replied: “I speak to them quite regularly. We’d like to add to the squad if we can and in the position in the table that we are we’ll need to.
“But finding the right players and looking for them is a bit different. Sometimes the ones you might want are not available at this time. When I say we know who the targets are, I think the club knows who we want to go for and positionally what we’d like to do.
“I think what changes is if you go for your target and you can’t get him, what do you do? You’ll have to look for another target. Hopefully, we’ll have two or three in consideration.”
Whether bringing in N’Zonzi would solve the crisis of balance, an overweighing attack in West Ham remains to be seen.
