West Ham should sack Kurt Zouma and the defender’s career in England is over, according to former Premier League goalkeeper Chris Kirkland.
Zouma was filmed chasing, slapping and drop-kicking his cat in footage that was initially uploaded to Snapchat by his brother Yoan.
The 27-year-old issued an apology on Monday evening, claiming that his two cats are ‘loved and cherished’ and his actions were an ‘isolated incident’.
The Metropolitan Police have no current plans to investigate Zouma, despite the footage, while the RSPCA has described the video as ‘very upsetting’.
West Ham have also launched an internal investigation but Kirkland, who made 180 Premier League appearances during his career, believes the Hammers should terminate Zouma’s contract.
‘I just can’t believe what I watched, I really can’t, it’s disgusting,’ Kirkland told talkSPORT.
‘He might not be bothered at all, you do things like that obviously you’re a despicable human being.
‘I wouldn’t [work with him] if I was in that dressing room, no. If I was in that dressing room, if I was captain I’d get him out of that dressing room. I wouldn’t want to play with him again, definitely not.
‘This is just about what’s right in humanity, even if you’re not an animal lover, seeing that absolutely sickened me.
‘I don’t think there’s any way back for him. West Ham have been backed into a corner, it’s not their fault, it’s not their fault at all, but they’ve got to handle it now and the only way for me is that he’s got to be sacked.
Asked if he believes it is the end of Zouma’s career in England, Kirkland replied: ‘I believe so, yes.
‘It is an extremely tough one, I’m an advocate of mental health but I think if you’re putting stuff on [social media] like that then you don’t care. You’re doing it to show off, they were laughing, he’s got a kid there, if they’ve put it on once then it’s obviously happened again, you see the cat run off scared to death.
‘If that was in the street what would happen? He’d get arrested and he’d be put behind bars.
‘No club can sign him now because of the backlash it’s going to get. The fans will turn on the club, nobody can sign him, and he’s only got himself to blame.’
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