It says everything about West Ham United that Kurt Zouma is the Club’s captain.
Born in France to parents who had emigrated to the country from the Central African Republic, Zouma is Black, a practicing Muslim, speaks multiple languages and is an outstanding footballer.
A teenage sensation at Saint-Étienne, Zouma won the FIFA U-20 World Cup with France and then joined Chelsea at 19, then won two Premier League titles and the UEFA Champions League with the Blues.
Zouma was tested, too. After losing his place in the Chelsea side, he was loaned to Stoke City and Everton, before returning to Stamford Bridge and regaining it.
Summer 2021 saw the 28-year-old move across London to West Ham, where he has overcome injuries and off-field issues to become an influential figure on the pitch and in the dressing room.
His performances were vital as the Hammers won their first major trophy in 43 years, the UEFA Europa Conference League, in June, while he has also played a role in the Club’s community work. Zouma’s leadership qualities were formally recognised by manager David Moyes, who named him captain in September, before the Club he plays for received the Premier League Equality and Diversity Standard Advanced level award this week, when the No4 spoke of his pride at being part of the West Ham family.
The Club has been presented with an award and I’m really pleased to see it, to be fair, because as a Club we are massive.
As a player, you need to know about the work we do as a Club for the community, helping people outside of football.
Football is just a game and everybody likes it, but as players we know we have a chance to help the people who support us with a bit of our time.
We are football players, but we are also human beings, so we see the families coming to watch the games and, singing and celebrating when we win and being sad when we lose, so I think the bond between the players and the fans at this Club is just unbelievable.
The Club is doing loads of stuff out in the community at schools and clubs and helping people who are struggling. It’s magic and something special.
I’m very proud to be part of this amazing Club inside and outside the field, as they do a great job and we just keep growing.
You can see how big the fanbase is and that gives us more confidence to keep going.
It’s a huge honour and privilege to be captain of this amazing Club.
I feel just proud. I came from a long way and far away in France, so being West Ham captain means a lot to me.
I played a few games as captain before the manager told me, but when he told me in front of all the boys, it was a proud moment.
For me, though, we are all captains in the team. We all talk to each other in the same way and try to help each other. I am the one wearing the armband, but I am just trying to do the best I am on the pitch and we’re all pulling in the same direction as a family.
I’ve got my teammates helping me all the time, and some more experienced players around me, so it’s all about the group and all moving in the same direction.
Every time I see Mark Noble now, he calls me ‘skipper’, which is weird because I also call him ‘skipper’!
Even if he is not playing any more, he is still the ‘skipper’ because he is Mr West Ham and is the main man here!
I get some advice from him, which is always good, and it’s good to have him around the place and at games, so he’s an important person for us.
Lilian Thuram and Marcel Desailly were the leaders I looked up to as a kid, as they were big players in the France ’98 World Cup winning team.
I also had the chance to play with John Terry at Chelsea and he was a big character, as was Didier Drogba, who I also played with.
You know these sorts of characters are loud and are top people who always have the good words to motivate you in the right way.
So I kind of took it from them and now I am lucky because we have an unbelievable team and I am pleased to lead this team and I’ll try to do my best.
The manager has done an amazing job.
We can tell that he is a legend here. We won a trophy last year, the Conference League, and that was a top achievement.
From me personally, he’s been helping me in every aspect, on my game and also supporting me outside of football throughout everything.
I can’t thank him enough for what he is doing for me and I just want to repay the faith he has shown in me on the pitch. I have to give him everything back on the pitch for everything that he has helped me through.
To win the Conference League and to celebrate that victory meant a lot to me.
Since I joined the Club more than two years ago, I said the target with West Ham was to win something, and I knew we could do it, especially with the team that we had and the team we have now.
That final was just the pinnacle. It was an unforgettable moment for the Club to win a trophy, and a European trophy as well.
Going abroad is never easy but we did it and the dream came true for the Club
We lost an important player in the summer in Declan Rice, but I think the replacements that we made have been very clever and we can feel how that didn’t affect us.
He is a great player who made some amazing games here and he will always be remembered here, but he’s an opponent now.
The players who have come in have bought into the project at West Ham, they have bought into the tactics and they have settled very well and very quickly as well, so they are helping us make a good start to the season.
The communication between us all has helped us and everybody understands the way we play. Last year, it was different because we had a lot of new players who came at the same time who were new to the Premier League, but this year we have players, for example James Ward-Prowse, who know the Premier League very well. He’s been an outstanding player for Southampton who knew how the game was played before he came here.
Edson Álvarez, as well, is someone who you can feel never stops running and never stops fighting and this is the type of player we need in the team.
Dinos Mavropanos and Mohammed Kudus have come from Germany and Holland and have been on the European stage, while Dinos has played here before with Arsenal, so he has got a bit of experience of the Premier League.
The top players we have brought in have had help from us and they have fit in straight away.
I would put our strong start down to the team because everyone is pulling in the same direction and following the manager’s instructions very well.
We are trying to do our best on the pitch and West Ham is a family and we’re playing like a family on the pitch. Everyone is fighting for each other, the spirit is there and hopefully we can continue like that.
Our expectations are to go as far as we can. We have started well in the Premier League, but there is still room for improvement.
In terms of the Europa League, why not go all the way? We play games to win and we know it’ll be tough, but we know we have the quality to win it, so let’s see how it goes!
The bond has been even tighter since Prague.
The celebrations were crazy and we celebrated for two straight days with no sleep in between, and also the bond we have with the fans is special, as you saw at the stadium and on the parade.
You can see how massive West Ham is and I think everyone can understand that, so we want to fight for the badge, fight for the fans and for our family.
Like I said, we’re a family, so we all want to fight for each other.
