Kurt Zouma’s past at West Ham United, specifically his conviction for animal abuse handed down to him in 2022, is making finding a new club difficult this summer.
[Superdeporte](https://www.superdeporte.es/) cover the defender today, including mentioning the conviction in their headline about potential interest from Valencia.
They explain that Valencia are currently combing the market for options to strengthen their squad this summer. The cheaper the better for the Spanish side, which makes Zouma attractive.
He’s set to be a free agent from next month as he’s leaving West Ham and the Frenchman is very much on the La Liga club’s radar. They need additions at centre-back, particularly if Cristhian Mosquera departs.
They see his history in the Premier League as an addition, even if his latest stint at West Ham saw him loaned out to Saudi Arabia. The problem, though, is the ‘fierce controversy’ which has followed him since 2022.
The defender was convicted of kicking his two cats by UK authorities, which saw him sentenced to 180 hours of community service and banned from owning cats for five years. His brother Yoan was also ordered to carry out 140 hours of community service after the pair appeared in a video that went viral on social media and was condemned.
The incident has not been forgotten, and the West Ham defender certainly hasn’t been forgiven either. So much so, it continues to follow him now with Valencia tracking him.
Even the replies to Super Deporte’s post on social media are an indication of the sentiment, with Valencia fans very much against the idea thanks to that previous conviction and the negative takes that continue to follow Zouma three years on.