Everton begin process of convincing Chelsea to sell Zouma

When the 2018-19 season ended, Marco Silva made it clear that he was happy with the performances of the two loanees who have strengthened Everton over the season, and that the Blues would try to get them signed permanently. The majority of the fanbase were in agreement too.

Now that the future of Andre Gomes has been secured, it appears Everton are going after the second one of those loanees - Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma.

The Telegraph are reporting that Everton have initiated conversations with the Stamford Bridge side for the permanent transfer of the central defender. With Chelsea facing a two-year two-transfer-window ban, it’s skeptical that they will be looking to sell Zouma with a daunting Champions League campaign ahead of them, but hey, if you don’t ask you don’t get, right?

Zouma had an excellent season for Everton, settling in and building a strong rapport with Michael Keane as the twin towers in the backline. The player has featured 71 times for Chelsea in his five years with the club, but instead has spent the majority of that time away on loan at St. Etienne, Stoke City and Everton.

Everton are likely to pursue Zouma with some intent, especially since it would mean not having to spend half a season bedding in a new player that would then have to build relationships and develop understanding with the rest of the squad.

Chelsea with their huge loan army are loaded at just about every position, and centrehalf even more so. Even if they were to sell Zouma, they would still have Anton Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and David Luiz, with Ethan Ampadu, Fikayo Tomori and Matt Miazga still on their books. In a three-man backline they have often used Cesar Azpilicueta in that position as well.