West Ham United tried to sign Mohamed Alì Zoma from 1. FC Nürnberg over the summer. They bid £17 million for him, but the 2. Bundesliga side turned it down. The forward was reportedly upset that the move did not come to fruition.
In a recent interview with Italy's Sky Sport, Zoma was asked about playing in Serie A or the Premier League one day. He replied (translated from Italian), “I’m not closing the door to anyone. I’m ready and focused; let’s see what the future has in store for me.”
His quotes have given Hammers fans hope that he could one day join the club. However, the question from Sky was about the top flights in Italy and England. West Ham are in the Championship, but are expected to bounce back to the Premier League.
Zoma also recently made his debut for Italy. He made a substitute appearance for Roberto Mancini's side in a 2-0 defeat to Belgium in the Nations League. Now that Zoma has played for his country, he will be looking up, not sideways. He currently plays in the second division in Germany, so he may now feel that he is better than the Championship.
West Ham may have little chance of signing him in January, despite their promotion expectations. Next summer could be an opportunity to sign Zoma, but he'll likely have many more suitors. Over the summer, Zoma was also linked with Fiorentina, Olympique de Marseille, RC Lens, and Paris FC.
West Ham will face competition if they go back in for Zoma
Moving to Fiorentina would be fitting for Zoma, as he is now an Italian international. He is from Italy and played for AlbinoLeffe before moving to Nürnberg. AlbinoLeffe are in Serie C, and Zoma scored 29 goals with 21 assists for them in 121 matches. So far for Nürnberg, the forward has found the back of the net 20 times, with five assists in just 36 games. Zoma is too good for Germany's second tier, and the same probably goes for the Championship. Albeit English football's second division is one of the strongest in the world.
Zoma is predominantly a second striker, but he can also play as a centre-forward and on the left wing. Instead of signing Zoma over the summer, West Ham signed Joel Piroe on loan from Leeds United. They have the option to buy the Suriname international, who has scored three goals in seven Championship games so far this season.
The Hammers also have Taty Castellanos, Pablo, and Josh Ajala as other striking options. Castellanos has not looked his best so far this season and has scored just once in the Championship. However, he has provided three assists. Pablo recently got his first goal for the club in a 3-2 defeat to Fulham in the EFL Cup. Ajala has also impressed in the cup, where he scored a brace against Southampton.
In terms of left-wing options, West Ham have Manor Solomon, who has two goals and two assists in eight games in the Championship this season. He is replicating the form he had for Leeds when they won the division. The Hammers also have Keiber Lamadrid, but he has barely featured since joining the club. Maxwell Cornet is also still at West Ham, but he has not been involved since returning to the club from his loan at Genoa.
For Nürnberg this season, Zoma has only featured on the left wing. His cameo for Italy also came in that position. Last season for the German side, and during his time at AlbinoLeffe, he played more through the middle. Time will tell what the future holds for Zoma, but West Ham are sure to have more competition if they try to sign him again.
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