Kurt Zouma has had a stuttering Chelsea career since joining the Blues in 2014, but he is finally back in the first team fold under Frank Lampard.
The man who’s middle name is ‘happy’, has done anything but enjoy his time at Chelsea so far.
Having a long term injury didn’t help proceedings at all, but he often found himself in the shadows under former managers Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri, who both sent him on loan.
The 24-year old has spent the last two seasons on loan with Stoke City and Everton. And it was in his last campaign where he really started to look like the impressive defender we had seen many glimpses of already.
Although he had to wait to be trusted, Zouma is now very happy to be at the club and have a manager who has shown belief in him, rather than send him out on loan again.
Speaking to Goal, Zouma was asked about his past at Chelsea under previous manager’s, he responded:
“It has been a very, very long journey. I don’t want to talk about that now because that is the past, but I fought very hard.
“People don’t know, people don’t see but I was in the shadows, working hard to get back because I had a very, very bad injury.
“I was off for one year but people forget that and don’t see. But for me, I always believed in myself. My family was always there behind me, supporting me and now I am back here, I am very happy to play here. I just want to keep going.
“I came here and wanted to play. I am in a big club and everyone here wants to play. The competition is very hard and you can see in the squad, there are a lot of talented players so when you train, you have to do it right.
“You always have to look over your shoulder. The squad is very talented and the competition can only make us better. Today I play, tomorrow maybe not but I want to play every game. Everyone that is on the pitch wants to stay on the pitch, and we have to work hard for that.”
