EVERTON want to make Kurt Zouma’s loan move from Chelsea permanent this summer. According to The Times, the Toffees have already told the French defender they want him to stay at Goodison Park beyond the end of the season. Zouma, 24, has enjoyed a fine season under Marco Silva this season, establishing a strong partnership […]
EVERTON want to make Kurt Zouma’s loan move from Chelsea permanent this summer.
According to The Times, the Toffees have already told the French defender they want him to stay at Goodison Park beyond the end of the season.
Zouma, 24, has enjoyed a fine season under Marco Silva this season, establishing a strong partnership with Michael Keane at the heart of the defence.
As well as keeping six Premier League clean sheets, he has also proved a threat in the opposition’s boss with a goal and two assists.
Zouma was forced to sit out their last game, the 2-0 victory over Chelsea, due to Premier League regulations preventing players facing their parent clubs.
But he is expected to return to Silva’s starting line-up today after being part of the French squad when Everton take on West Ham, especially with Yerry Mina injured.
The star’s future beyond the end of the current campaign remains unclear, though.
He is down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge – where his contract runs until 2023 – and is surely guaranteed regular first-team football if he made the move to Merseyside permanent.
But with Chelsea’s transfer ban looming, they may well be unable to make any signings until the summer of 2020 and may therefore decide to keep hold of Zouma.
He is, after all, an experienced centre-back with two Premier League winner’s medals on his mantle piece.
Gary Cahill is set to leave the club this summer but Maurizio Sarri – or his replacement – would still have Antonio Rudiger, David Luiz, Andreas Christensen and Ethan Ampadu to choose from, while Cesar Azpilicueta can also fill in if needed.
The Blues paid Saint-Etienne £12.5million for Zouma in 2014 but he has since returned to the French side on loan before temporary spells with Stoke and now Everton.
The two clubs have been in this position before. Five years ago, Romelu Lukaku spent the season on loan at Goodison Park before making his switch permanent.
And the Goodison Park club are willing to splash the cash to keep hold of Zouma with £30m expected to be enough to convince Chelsea to sell.
Phil Jagielka is out of contract in the summer so as things stand Silva will have just two centre-backs at the club by the summer: Mina and Keane.
