Zouma ready to stay and fight for Chelsea spot

Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma is adamant that his eyes are not wandering away from Stamford Bridge, despite the French international’s lack of game time last season.

The 22-year-old broke into the Blues’ backline during the 2015-16 campaign, but a horror knee injury sustained back in February 2016 required surgery and an 11-month rehabilitation.

Chelsea’s back three – without Zouma involved – was one of the major success stories of last season for the champions, but rather than wanting out, the former Saint-Étienne man is determined play a bigger role when the Blues return to the Champions League next season.

And while taking his time during his recovery to make sure he was fully fit before returning to the Chelsea ranks may have put him down manager Antonio Conte’s pecking order, Zouma insists he has no regrets.

“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,” he said.

“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.

“[I took such a long time to come back because] I wanted to be careful about relapsing.

“Often, people say it takes six months, but I wanted to be really certain I could come back, and to have the knowledge that I wouldn’t be stopped in my tracks again.

“It was the right thing to do.”