Frank Lampard Says Chelsea Turned Down Summer Offers for 'Fantastic' Kurt Zouma

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has said the club rejected offers for defender Kurt Zouma in the summer and has praised his "fantastic" performances this season. 

Zouma was on loan at Everton in 2018-19 and excelled at the heart of the Toffees defence. His performances prompted speculation regarding a possible permanent move to Merseyside, but he was eventually retained by the Blues.

After a challenging start to the season, Zouma has struck up a strong centre-back partnership with Fikayo Tomori. Speaking ahead of his team's Carabao Cup clash with Manchester United on Wednesday, Lampard praised the recent efforts from the France international, per Nizaar Kinsella of Goal:

"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."

After a slow start to 2019-20, Lampard's Chelsea are beginning to hit their stride with some brilliant attacking displays:

After the sale of David Luiz to Arsenal in the summer, many anticipated Chelsea's starting centre-back pairing for the season would be Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen. It's to the credit of Zouma and Tomori that they've been able to cement their positions.

Zouma has been a Chelsea player for five years, and for the first time since his first two years at the club, he's a regular in the team again. Chelsea broadcaster Alex Goldberg thinks the lack of summer acquisitions have been to his benefit:

In Tomori, Zouma appears to have found a natural partner. The Chelsea account shared the following clip of some excellent defending from the England youth international in the 4-2 win over Burnley:

The challenge for both defenders in the coming weeks will be to preserve this consistency in a team that is set up to attack. At times, Tomori and Zouma will be exposed by the brand of football Lampard wants to play, although they have each shown themselves to be adept in one-on-one situations.

The manner in which both players have stepped up their game this season is testament to Lampard's coaching and man management. It's one of many positives Chelsea fans can take from the start of his tenure.