Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has given the real reason Kurt Zouma left the club for West Ham United last summer transfer window.
Zouma, who moved to Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2014 under Jose Mourinho’s regime, hardly cements his place in the heart of Chelsea’s defence under a number of managers.
The France international spent time out on loan at the likes of Stoke City, Saint-Etienne and Everton in order to get his career right back on track.
Zouma had started to make huge progress under former Chelsea head coach, Frank Lampard, but after he was sacked in January, he struggled to win the faith of Tuchel.
The Frenchman was left out of the team which won the UEFA Champions League at the end of last campaign. And peaking ahead of Chelsea’s Premier League clash with West Ham on Saturday, Tuchel said the performances of Trevoh Chalobah in pre-season influenced their decision to allow Zouma to leave.
“We replaced him [Kurt Zouma] with Trevoh because we had the trust in Trevoh,” Tuchel was quoted by Chelsea’s official website as saying.
“Until this moment, we couldn’t allow him to go, because of course, we are selfish, and we have to see if we have a strong squad, but you have to see the situation of Kurt also, and his point of view.
“He is a strong, experienced Premier League player and he suffered from the decision for [Cesar] Azpilicueta in the back three, for Andreas [Christensen] and for Toni [Rudiger] in the back three as direct competitors to his place, so he had not enough minutes for his status and quality and for where he wants to be in this time of his career.
“We had many talks about it during the pre-season and reflected on his and our positions, the more we got to know Trevoh we thought maybe if Kurt arrives with the wish constantly to go, he can.
“For many weeks, there was not an offer that interested him, so it was always clear. For me, I love Kurt and I told him I love him. I said we don’t need to do these talks because I am happy if you stay, even if Trevoh comes in.
“I said you are a top-quality player and you have to fight for your place and you always have a chance to play, but it is hard competition.”
