Additional Defensive Aid for Chelsea as Zouma Nears Full Fitness
Chelsea’s wonder kid Kurt Zouma is rapidly making progress to return to Conte’s team selection ahead of their Premier League clash against Middlesbrough next weekend. The 22-year old was full of smiles in his recent Instagram post, laying on a physio table, which got the Chelsea fans grinning too. He was out for approximately 7 months after a devastating cruciate ligament injury in a 1-1 stalemate with Manchester United at Stamford Bridge last season. A season not only served as a nightmare for him, yet for the club itself, finishing 10th in the league.
Zouma commenced his comeback as he completed The Blues’ Checkatrade Trophy tie with Oxford United a few days back, a match that saw 34 penalties taken following a 1-1 draw in open play, which is the highest ever in an English Tournament. Besides helping the youngsters to a victory and slotting home one of the spot kick, the Frenchman absolutely looked calm and composed in defence. The best part, he played at the heart of a three-man backline, a strategy that has turned fortunes around for his new boss.
His availability is clearly a boost for Conte yet looking at the spectacular form Chelsea are in at the moment, making any changes to the first eleven would be close to crime. The Blues now sit second in the league, one point adrift from table leaders Liverpool with five wins in a row and not conceding any in the progress. One man’s loss is another man’s gain is the ideal saying for Zouma’s situation. Hampered with his lengthy injury spell and John Terry’s wishy-washy performances, Conte’s main concern was to fortify the centre of defence and out of the blue, they sealed a deal for David Luiz on transfer deadline day.
There were questions hovering around if the Brazilian was Conte’s first choice but things have turned out really well since switching into a back three. Thus, Zouma will be at the root of defensive selection at the moment, along with John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic but it wouldn’t be the worst place to end up as he is hailed by the fans and manager himself as the future of Chelsea. In other words, the successor of Terry. According to Sun Bets, he is touted to be the man to replace the Chelsea captain on the longer run.
Judging the current situation, the former Saint-Étienne player will be looking to pounce if any signs of uncertainly coming back to haunt the backline as it was in the opening few matches of the season. Zouma will be given more playing time in closed door friendlies and other cup games to hit his full form or a second half cameo in the next league match. However, you might never know if the new manager sprang a surprise by benching David Luiz, perhaps to further stamp his authority on the squad and instigating a healthy competition among the defenders.