Frank Lampard reveals why he rejected offers for Kurt Zouma during summer transfer window

Frank Lampard has revealed his belief in Kurt Zouma’s ability as the reason his rejected offers from Everton and other clubs in the summer.

And the Chelsea boss is delighted his French defender remained at Stamford Bridge, describing Zouma’s current form as “fantastic.”

The centre-back’s future was under the spotlight after returning from a successful loan spell at Everton last season.

The Toffees were desperate to sign Zouma on a permanent deal.

And it was reckoned he was attracting interest from elsewhere, with Man Utd also linked at one stage.

But Chelsea were unable to sign players over the summer, reinforcing Lampard’s decision to include Zouma in his senior squad.

And the 25-year-old is now thriving in the starting XI, already featuring in nine out of ten Premier League games this term.

Lampard said: “He has been fantastic.

“There was a belief that I had in Kurt because there was interest in the summer after we all know he had a very good loan at Everton last year.

“But I believed in him as I believed in Tomori – that is why I made the decisions I made pre-season in terms of where we were going to look defensively.

“It has been nice to get some stability, albeit because of injuries, between him and Fikayo in the last games.

“It has been good to get them playing together to see the little bond they are getting on and off the pitch.

“It is a nice little story and it must continue, I suppose.”