West Ham United have offered €20 million to sign Nantes defender Nathan Zeze, with the Ligue 1 club demanding €30 million to sell the 19-year-old defender.
According to a report by Italian outlet Sport Italia, Nathan Zeze is the subject of interest from West Ham United. The Hammers face stiff competition from Inter Milan for the Nantes centre-back and have offered €20 million to secure his services. However, the Ligue 1 club will demand around €30 million to part ways with the 19-year-old whizkid.
Who is Nathan Zeze?
Nathan Zeze is the latest highly-rated French prospect to rise in prominence in his homeland. The country continues to produce promising prodigies every year, and the Nantes defender is another in a long list of talented centre-backs. A native of Nantes, the Frenchman has been with his hometown club since 2013 and has come leaps and bounds in the past decade.
The 19-year-old broke into the first-team squad at FC Nantes in January 2023 and has made gradual progress in the last 18 months. Zeze has turned out 16 times thus far for the Ligue 1 club’s first team, amassing 1,220 minutes of game time.
Meanwhile, Nathan Zeze’s progress at FC Nantes has not gone unnoticed, capturing the attention of several well-known clubs across Europe. West Ham United and Inter Milan are the French defender’s prospective suitors in the final days of the summer transfer window. Meanwhile, the Ligue 1 outfit will demand around €30 million to part ways with him.
London calling?
West Ham United’s interest in Nathan Zeze is understandable. While the Hammers have already bolstered their backline by signing Jean-Clair Todibo from OGC Nice, another defender from a Ligue 1 club might soon arrive at the London Stadium. Todibo will replace Kurt Zouma, who will likely leave the East London club, even though his move to Shabab Al-Ahli has collapsed.
In addition, Nayef Aguerd and Konstantinos Mavropanos face an uncertain future at West Ham, while Angelo Ogbonna has left the club as a free agent. So, several candidates, including Diego Carlos, have emerged on West Ham’s radar. However, Zeze is also a viable target, with the East London club offering €20 million to sign the Frenchman.
West Ham’s bid is higher than Inter Milan, with the Nerazzurri offering around €15 million. However, neither proposal is close to Nantes’s asking price of €30 million. So, it will be interesting to see if the Ligue 1 outfit will demand another bid for the 19-year-old from the two clubs.
