Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma has denied he is seeking a move away from Stamford Bridge this summer. The Frenchman has been linked with a return to his homeland in recent weeks with Marseille, Lyon and Nice all believed to be interested in the 22 year old.
During an interview with France Football magazine, the centre back was keen to stress that he wants to break through into the Chelsea first team next season:
“I’m very happy at Chelsea. I hear the rumours, it’s flattering. It means I’m a player people are looking at, but I’m not going to stop there. My objective is to stay at Chelsea. Next season, we’ll start from scratch, there will be a lot of games.The cards will be on the table. It’s up to me to work hard.”
Zouma spent the first few months of last campaign on the treatment table, as he continued his recovery from a cruciate knee ligament injury. After returning to fitness in mid December, it then took him until early January to get any minutes on the pitch. He played the full 90 minutes in the FA Cup third victory against Peterborough. He went on to play 12 more times last season.
His three starts in the league came in the the 2-1 win over Manchester City, the 2-0 defeat against Manchester United and the 4-3 win over Watford. He was substituted at half time against City as well, which suggests he still has some convincing to do to persuade Antonio Conte he should play more regularly.
