West Ham: £120k-a-week star could face 'up to four months out' at London Stadium | OneFootball

West Ham United star Kurt Zouma could be out of action for up to four months after undergoing surgery on a problem suffered at the London Stadium, according to injury expert Ben Dinnery.

The Hammers, who went into the break from domestic action sitting just one point clear of the Premier League’s relegation zone, are facing up to a period without the central defender after going under the knife.

What’s the latest news involving Zouma?

West Ham have revealed that Zouma has had surgery on a knee injury and will go through a rehabilitation period at the club’s Rush Green training ground.

However, the Hammers stopped short of confirming how long the 11-cap France international will be on the sidelines for.

Zouma was substituted just 15 minutes into West Ham’s 2-0 defeat to Leicester City, which was the final encounter before the World Cup break, earlier this month.

Boss David Moyes admitted a knee problem surfaced during the pre-match warm-up, which led to him being led down the London Stadium tunnel prematurely, but the decision was still taken to keep the 28-year-old in the starting line-up.

It is not the first time Zouma has been on the treatment table since joining West Ham as he missed 11 fixtures due to hamstring and ankle issues last season.

What has Ben Dinnery said about Zouma?

Dinnery believes Zouma could be out of action for up to four months if the surgery was undertaken due to a meniscus problem.

However, the injury news journalist feels the former Chelsea man had to go under the knife if he wanted to get back to playing without pain.

Dinnery told GIVEMESPORT: “Depending on the extent of that surgery – whether it’s just a bit of a flush out and a bit of a trim or it’s something a little bit more involved in terms of the meniscus – you could be talking a period of four to six weeks or possibly three to four months.

“Imaging may not have been conclusive but, suffice to say, it would give a strong indication that if the player wants to play pain free going forward, that decision to take the operation was the correct move to make.”

Will Zouma be a huge miss for West Ham?

Since making the £29.8million switch from London rivals Chelsea last year, Zouma has become one of the first names on the team-sheet at West Ham.

He has made 47 appearances for the Hammers and was influential when Moyes’ side reached the Europa League semi-finals last season.

Although West Ham have been struggling since the current campaign got underway, Zouma has made a whopping 4.8 clearances per Premier League outing, along with 0.9 interceptions and 0.3 tackles, so there is no doubt that his presence will be missed.

However, the £120,000-per-week man’s absence will present summer signing Nayef Aguerd with an opportunity to come into the fray.