He has one of a few shining lights in a woeful season, wasn’t he? Indeed, Kurt Zouma was a mainstay at the back during Stoke City’s relegation from the Premier League in 2017/18. Despite his talents, which he displayed to the Potters faithful more than regularly, he could not prevent Stoke from going down in a season to forget.
Zouma arrived with a positive reputation of being a stern and imposing figure at the back, with technical ability and maturity beyond his years following his recent years at Chelsea, and that reputation was only bolstered in the West Midlands.
Having already been a regular in senior football at Saint-Etienne from the tender age of 17, he had years of experience so it was no surprise to see so many Stoke fans excited about his arrival on a season-long loan.
Great signing
— David HUDDART (@DavidHUDDART1) July 21, 2017
Get in welcome big guy
— #scfcRich astley (@richastley1969) July 21, 2017
Cracking signing
— WeMarchOn (@kelvinlegod) July 21, 2017
great business. Welcome Kurt. Announce Delph??
— Matthew Perrins (@mattyp1978) July 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/SCFCOkay/status/888390818029072384
Fantastic piece of business Stoke, now go out all guns to secure BMI & Delph
— Andrew Owen (@owena1971) July 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/YusufMoneer/status/888391486563389440
As aforementioned, Zouma did impress during his spell at Stoke and he has continued to build on this promise with another successful loan, this time at Everton. The Frenchman will now return to his parent club, Chelsea, but who knows as of yet whether he will face yet another loan or remain permanently at Stamford Bridge.
Judging by his last two spells though, which will have undoubtedly developed his character and ability, if he is not to get regular game time at Chelsea, then another move back to Everton or elsewhere could be on the cards.
Frankly, it says a lot about just how bad the Potters were that even a coup such as this one (though, to be fair, the Frenchman was recovering from a bad injury) couldn’t keep them in the Premier League. 37 games was a decent return for Stoke, who somehow made him look like a relative clown in their dreadful backline. Cheers Mark Hughes and Paul Lambert.
Potters, how did you initially feel when the club signed Zouma? Join the discussion by commenting below…
