With Crystal Palace appearing to have stolen a march on Stoke City in the race to sign Bruno Martins Indi, the Potters have bolstered their centre-back options by signing Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma on a season-long loan.
Stoke manager Mark Hughes revealed the Potters fought off interest from a number of clubs from across Europe to secure the services of Zouma, who is looking for regular first-team football following a serious knee injury:
“We have prioritised adding further strength in depth to defensive positions this summer, and we have certainly done that by fending off any number of clubs who were all interested in taking Kurt on loan… On his day he is one of the most impressive defenders in the league, and while injury unfortunately hampered his progress at Chelsea last season, we are certain that we can give him the platform to recapture the form he showed prior to his setback.”
The History
Zouma linked up with Ligue 1 side Saint-Etienne at the age of 15 and made his professional debut in a cup match against Bordeaux in August 2011, aged 16.
He made 22 league appearances during the 2011/12 season, scoring twice, and was part of the side that lifted the Coupe de la Ligue in 2012/13.
In total, Zouma played 74 times for Saint-Etienne in all competitions, producing four goals and two assists.
In January 2014, Zouma joined Chelsea in a deal believed to be worth around £12 million, though he only linked up with the Blues ahead of the 2014/15 campaign.
He made 15 league appearances during his first season at Stamford Bridge and was part of the squad that won the Premier League title.
It was during the following season that Zouma really established himself in the Chelsea side, starting 21 of the first 25 matches before rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament.
That injury, along with the form of the Chelsea defence last season, meant Zouma has made just nine league appearances since.
Zouma represented France at all levels from U16s to U21s, before making his senior debut against Denmark in March 2015 – one of just two appearances he has made for the national team.
The Prospects
Zouma is priced at 5.5 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), so it’s unlikely the Frenchman will feature prominently in our seasons.
The 22-year-old does offer a set-piece threat – during the 2015/16 season he averaged a shot every 112.8 minutes.
But his goalscoring record, just seven goals in his career so far, doesn’t appear to justify the outlay, particularly bearing mind the Potters only kept 11 clean sheets last term.
Value can certainly be found elsewhere in the Stoke defence, though.
Glen Johnson, Phil Bardsley and Geoff Cameron are available at 4.5, while Jack Butland, Erik Pieters and Ryan Shawcross come in at 5.0.
Much will depend on what formation Hughes opts for.
The Potters’ boss generally favoured a four-man backline last term, but he did at times experiment with a three-man defence.
In a back four, Zouma and Shawcross look the favourites to start in central defence if Martins Indi doesn’t end up at the bet365 Stadium, with Cameron and perhaps Marc Muniesa options in a three-man backline.
Cameron is certainly an interesting prospect as he is also in the running to start in a defensive midfield role, although new signing Darren Fletcher is expected to be a starter in the middle of the park.
In terms of Zouma’s defensive numbers, he impressively won all eight of his tackles last season, and 81% during the 2015/16 campaign.
By comparison, Shawcross only won 75% of his tackles last time out.
Looking at Zouma’s bonus point potential, he averaged a clearance, block or interception (CBI) every 11.42 minutes in 2015/16, which was inferior to Shawcross (9.91) last term.
However, Zouma earned Baseline Bonus System Points (BPS) – that is BPS without goals, assists and clean sheets – at a rate of a point every 3.7 minutes. An outstanding return which easily bettered Shawcross (7.6 minutes).
Looking back a season, Zouma – who made 23 appearances for Chelsea – earned Baseline BPS every 6.5 minutes compared with Shawcross’ 7.2.
That would indicate that the new loanee will have a say when it comes to BPS and bonus points in a Stoke clean sheet scenario.
However, even that data does little to justify the extra spend on Zouma, with Butland and Shawcross, providing he shakes off a back problem, likely to offer stronger value.
Fantasy managers will hope pre-season provides some clues as to who will be the first-choice right-back between Johnson and Bardsley, although Mame Biram Diouf’s ability to operate at right wing-back is a worry should Hughes adopt a three-man defence.
There could also be some uncertainty on the opposite flank, with summer signing Josh Tymon set to put pressure on Pieters for the left-back berth.
In any case, Stoke’s opening fixtures (eve, ARS, wba, MUN, new, CHE) mean Potters assets are unlikely to be in demand.
Those early matches should provide us with the chance to assess how Stoke will line up this season, with investment likelier when Hughes’ men embark on a more favourable run from Gameweek 9 onwards.
As for Chelsea, new signing Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen look to be the rotation options in central defence for Antonio Conte, with John Terry and Nathan Ake having departed this summer.
It has also been mooted that Conte could be open to changing to a four-man defence on occasion this season, something that will certainly need to be monitored.
But in terms of Stoke, the power and athleticism of Zouma should certainly complement the experience of Shawcross. And once the Chelsea loanee gets a run of matches under his belt, his presence could boost the appeal of the entire backline.
But until the schedule eases, and we see how the Potters line up, Fantasy managers are likely to take a watching brief before pinpointing the optimum route into the Stoke rearguard.
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