No matter where he goes, Kurt “Happy” Zouma wins the hearts of coaches and fans. The 24-year-old defender arrived at Everton last summer on a season-long loan, hoping to get regular playing time to further his development and book a place in the Chelsea first-team squad. Instead, he ended up becoming a favourite for the Goodison Park crowd, and a fair bit less certain about which Blue shirt he may be wearing in the future.
Inside the Merseyside club, the feeling is the same. According to the Liverpool Echo, he has become their “priority target” for the summer, and are hoping that Chelsea’s transfer ban will not become an obstacle in their pursuit.
All of the Blues players are full of praise for Zoumahttps://t.co/cafYqSPnW1
— Everton FC News (@LivEchoEFC) April 24, 2019
The result of Chelsea’s appeal against the ban is still unknown. If Chelsea cannot register new players for the next two transfer windows, the chances of recalling and utilizing Zouma are much higher. One might argue that he should be recalled and re-integrated just the same, ban or no ban, but that may not be what Zouma or Chelsea are thinking.
Everton obviously see a great opportunity, very much like they did with Romelu Lukaku, and will be putting the pressure on Big Kurt to stay (and probably have been doing that for some time). Zouma’s current teammates will be doing the same, as one would expect.
“Of course, we want to keep every good player that we’ve got. He’s been fantastic for us since he came in, so hopefully he’ll want to stay. I’m sure the club will put a bit of pressure on him to stay, and I’m sure the boys will as well!”
-Gylfi Sigurdsson; source: Liverpool Echo
Just another one of the perils of sending players out on loan.