Everton are reportedly looking to strengthen their backline by signing French defender Kurt Zouma on a permanent deal from Chelsea this summer.
According to a report by Daily Telegraph, Everton are keen on signing 24-year-old centre-back Kurt Zouma on a permanent deal in this summer’s transfer window. To that end, the Toffees have opened talks with fellow Premier League club Chelsea as they look to gather momentum in the window.
Zouma had an impressive season on-loan at the Merseyside club in 2018-19, having helped them to ten clean sheets while featuring on the field and also getting onto the score sheet twice. And, one can argue that the Frenchman, who earned a recall to the national side as well, was one of the best centre-backs outside the top six this past season.
Strength, pace, physicality; Zouma has all it takes to be a top Premier League defender. The 24-year-old formed a solid central defensive partnership with Michael Keane for Everton and Marco Silva hopes he can build on that partnership for the upcoming Premier League season as well by bringing Zouma to the club on a permanent basis this summer.
Chelsea’s transfer ban though, makes the situation a little tricky for Marco Silva, but he has urged the board to make needful arrangements to bring in Zouma to Goodison Park. And, in order to secure his services, Everton are willing to offer upto £30 million for the Frenchman, as per Daily Telegraph.
What further complicates matters is the fact that Chelsea would be without Antonio Rudiger for the beginning of next season, while Gary Cahill has left the club as a free agent and David Luiz will be 33 next year which leaves them with scarcity of options at the back.
Ethan Ampadu is young but inexperienced and Andreas Christensen did not see much first-team football under former boss Maurizzio Sarri. And so, it would be interesting to see what Chelsea make out of the Zouma situation.
The Toffees are already front-runners to sign Andre Gomes from Barcelona. Adding Zouma to their summer incoming list would provide a huge boost at Goodison Park as both of them were top performers for Everton this past season.
Zouma has already expressed his desire to continue his stint at Everton after he started 29 of their 38 games in the campaign gone by and has been constantly praised by both fans and manager. It all lies in Chelsea’s hands to see where Zouma would play his football next season.
