LONDON: Kurt Zouma’s seven-and-a-half-year Chelsea career came to an end after the defender on Saturday completed a permanent move to West Ham United.
Zouma leaves Stamford Bridge having made 151 appearances for the Blues and scored 10 goals. His last game was Chelsea’s UEFA Super Cup success, one of five trophies he won during his time in west London having arrived from Saint-Etienne in 2014.
Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia said: “Kurt Zouma joined us as a young player and has been a part of so many important moments for this club over the past seven-and-a-half years. He showed incredible strength of character to return from a very serious injury in 2016, and he has always been an extremely popular character in the dressing room. We thank him for his contribution on and off the pitch for Chelsea, and wish him the very best in the next stage of his career.”
Zouma signed for Chelsea in January 2014, staying at Saint-Etienne on loan for the second half of that campaign. He joined his new teammates in the summer, and the then 19-year-old’s competitive Chelsea debut was a memorable one as he opened the scoring in a 2-1 League Cup win over Bolton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge in September 2014.
“I’m very happy and very proud,” Zouma told West Ham’s official website. “My conversation with the manager went very fast. I just felt like he really wanted me to come and join the team, especially a good team that’s started the season very, very well.” Zouma is West Ham’s fifth summer signing and will hope to make his West Ham debut when they travel to Southampton on September 11.
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