Midseason Review: Should Everton Sign Kurt Zouma Permanently?

Kurt Zouma has done well on loan with Everton this season. Can and should Everton try to pressure Chelsea into signing the center-back permanently?

Continuing with our Midseason Review series, we are now going to take a look at Kurt Zouma. If you haven’t caught out our review on Andre Gomes, be sure to check out it and see how he faired.

Now back to Zouma. Everton signed the Chelsea defender on the 10th of August, 2018. This move was considered very positive at the time and still is. It seems like Kurt Zouma has been around awhile in the world of football, but he is only 24 years old. Amazing. With a large amount of matches under his belt, let’s take a look at how Zouma has done at Everton this season.

What Does Kurt Zouma Bring to Everton?

Heading into this season, the center back position was high on Everton’s list. Phil Jagielka wasn’t getting any younger, Keane was coming off a disappointing debut season and Ashley Williams… well you know the rest. Everton needed to get younger, fast. Kurt Zouma was the perfect target for Everton. Young, fast, has Premier League experience and in need of first-team football.

Zouma came into this Everton side right away and good reason why. He offers a few things the other Everton defenders do not have.

He Brings Pace to the Defence

Zouma started his footballing career as a striker/ winger. He has pace and you can still see it today. He uses the pace to make up ground on an attacker or to position himself perfectly. When others around him make mistakes, Zouma is there to clean it up.

v

Zouma Can Make Clearances

Yes, every defender should be doing this. But over the last few years, this seems to be a weakness in the Everton Defense. Countless times Evertonians have watched a defender struggle to clear the ball out of danger. And countless times these have lead to goals.

Zouma can look awkward and clumsy at times, but he does he best to put the ball out of harm’s way. This goes back to using his pace as well. Kurt covers ground relevantly quicky to clean up the incoming danger.

v

Does He Fit Into This Side Moving Forward?

Absolutely! Zouma has been one of Everton’s best defenders this season. Between Zouma, Mina and Keane, Everton should have a solid central defense for the next few years to come. Remember, all three are 25 and under!

Zouma is the perfect partner to be paired next to Keane as well. Keane is prone to making a few mistakes. But Zouma has the pace to help Keane recover and makes him feel more comfortable.

We rarely have gotten a chance to see Mina and Zouma next to each other, however. This worries us a bit, but we still believe this could be a great pairing. Mina can be reckless and times or over commit. Zouma being a safety net should bring out the best in Mina and play more of his style.

The bottom line is, Zouma fits into this side moving forward.

So How Has Zouma Done Thus Far?

Zouma has made 25 appearances for the Toffees this season. In that time he has 5 clean sheets and 34 goals conceded. Not spectacular numbers, but it’s not all his fault.

34 interceptions, 96 clearances, and 166 recoveries are some more stats to show how he has done so far this season. Zouma has been asked to lead this backline that as been inconsistent over the past few years. He has done a great job this season making it more stabilzed.

Will Chelsea Sell?

With Chelsea facing a transfer ban, it is now up in the air if Chelsea are willing to sell the defender. A change in manager might be another possible issue for Everton.

Marco Silva has stated his desire to sign Kurt Zouma on a permanent deal and will test Chelsea in the summer. Will Zouma push Chelsea to making a permament move, or will he fight for his place at Chelsea. It will be an interesting summer.

Final Verdict

Everton should sign Zouma on a permanent deal, as long as it’s not over £30 million. Zouma is a fantastic player and has faired well at Everton thus far. But Everton have been burned in the past with spending high amounts of money on Players.

With Marcel Brands in charge, Everton will like to get value for their money. So if Chelsea are demanding too much, we fully expect Everton to walk away and search for cheaper options.

Kurt Zouma midseason rating: 8.5/10

Where would Everton be without him in defense? Let us know in the comments below.