• Ligue 1

Cardiff warned off Zouma by St Etienne

ESPN staff
July 5, 2013
Kurt Zouma has emerged as a target for Cardiff © AP
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St Etienne have warned interested clubs, Cardiff City among them, that they are wasting their time trying to snatch away promising centre-back Kurt Zouma.

Les Verts saw a key member of their squad leave on Thursday after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang signed for Borussia Dortmund.

And Wolfsburg have confirmed their hope of taking Zouma, 18, to the Bundesliga this summer, while Cardiff and Anzhi Makhachkala are among a host of clubs who have also expressed an interest in the €10 million-rated defender.

However, while Aubameyang had been told he could leave the side he helped finish fifth in Ligue 1 last season, the club's powers-that-be previously revealed they had promised coach Christophe Galtier, when he signed a two-year contract extension recently, that no other members of his youthful squad would be sold off.

Currently on international duty with France's Under-20 side at the World Cup, Zouma is due for talks with the St Etienne hierarchy to clarify the situation upon his return from Turkey.

Les Verts' president Roland Romeyer, though, told RMC that the club's position has not changed.

"We've been very clear," he said. "There was only one player given permission to leave - Aubameyang.

"No other player will leave this season, because we want to continue to have a competitive squad. Christophe Galtier asked to keep his squad. Zouma has great potential to improve a lot, we want to keep him this season."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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