According to a recent report by the Daily Mail, Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has stated that there were multiple bids on the table for the services of their French defender Kurt Zouma. Although clubs including his former employers Everton were said to be extremely keen on his signature, Frank Lampard refused to sell him knowing full well just how important he would be to the squad this season.
Chelsea’s Predicament And Lampard’s Roadmap For Progress
The Blues are currently serving a transfer ban that takes away their right to sign players from other clubs. What this has done is effectively necessitate the incorporation of the younger players within the Chelsea squad. Although the promotion of youth talent isn’t something that comes naturally to this Chelsea side, it does look like Frank Lampard has decided to embrace the situation at hand.
Rather than going for a more tactical approach using his experienced and marquee players, Lampard went the opposite way. He decided to give the untested Chelsea academy graduates the limelight, in an attempt to induce loyalty to the club from within, rather than splurging to acquire it from the transfer market.
The results have been unexpected, to say the least; as Chelsea’s youngsters have blown the Blues supporters away with a new brand of exciting and dynamic football – the kind that hasn’t been seen at Chelsea since Didier Drogba left the club for the first time in 2012. Under Lampard’s able guidance, players like Reece James, Fikayo Tomori, Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount have stepped up to the plate when their team needed them the most.
Kurt Zouma’s Role At Stamford Bridge This Season
What’s exciting about the Chelsea squad this term is that wearing the club’s crest out onto the pitch every weekend is the ultimate prize for many of the players involved, and Kurt Zouma is no exception. The Frenchman had to wait patiently for a long time to get his chance, and boy, has he taken it well. He has formed an excellent partnership with Fikayo Tomori in the middle of the park, and he has also put in some dominant individual displays.
Having had an excellent season at Everton last time out, the call for him to join them permanently was sure to be heard, but the Frenchman decided to ignore it. He did so to achieve his dream of being a regular in the Chelsea team. A little more than three months into the tournament now, Zouma has become one of the untouchables within the Chelsea squad, having started each of their last seven games in all competitions.
Will Frank Lampard’s Decision To Not Sell Kurt Zouma Be A Mistake?
So far this campaign, the Frenchman has played in 15 matches in all competitions, including all of their three Champions League games this season. Currently, at 25-years-old, the Frenchman has been one of the leaders within the side, considering just how young this group of players that Frank Lampard has brought together is.
If the last three months are anything to go by, then Zouma still has a massive future left at Stamford Bridge, and Lampard has done the Chelsea board an enormous favour by ignoring all the offers that were tabled for the Frenchman’s services earlier this year.
