Thibaut Simon, Media365: published on Sunday January 4, 2026 at 10:20 p.m.
Former Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma is in the process of terminating his contract in Romania due to unpaid wages.
The nightmare continues for Kurt Zouma. The former great hope of AS Saint-Etienne, bought by the Chelsea Blues in 2014, is experiencing a checkered end to his career. Having left for West Ham in 2021, the French defender was at the heart of an animal abuse scandal. On June 1, 2022, Zouma was sentenced by British justice to 180 hours of community service for beatings on his cat and a video published on the Snapchat network. Suspended by his club, he was criticized by some of his supporters. If the adventure with the Hammers ended last summer – the defender had an experience in Saudi Arabia last year on loan – it was in Romania, free of any contract, that Zouma flew.
Unpaid, Zouma will leave his club
To everyone’s surprise, Kurt Zouma decided on September 3, 2025 to sign up with CFR Cluj for a period of two years. The one who has 11 caps (1 goal) for the French team – his last call-ups date back to 2021 – will finally leave the Romanian club earlier than expected. Five months after his arrival, the defender is no longer paid by Cluj, his employer. Like other players in the squad, which notably includes former Nantes player Marcus Coco and Algerian striker Islam Slimani, who played for Monaco, Brest and Lyon, Zouma is on the verge of terminating his contract. The player trained with the Greens only played three championship matches and one in the national cup. According to several reports, Kurt Zouma received the highest salary in the history of the Romanian championship with a sum of around 80,000 euros per month.
But the Romanian club has been going through a major financial crisis since this summer, explaining these unpaid salaries. The club would have a debt of around 1.2 million euros, or four to five months’ salary, combined with debts to club staff dating from past seasons. Since then, the Romanian Football Federation and UEFA have taken up the subject, demanding rapid regularization of the accounts, under penalty of heavy sanctions such as a transfer ban. In the meantime, Kurt Zouma could soon be free again on the transfer market.
Keep reading
