Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma seals Stoke loan switch

Stoke have signed Kurt Zouma on a season-long loan from Chelsea, who have tied the France international to a new six-year contract.

The 22-year-old centre-half has made 71 appearances for the Blues since joining from St Etienne in 2014, but suffered a serious knee injury in February 2016, halting his progress.

He was restricted to 13 appearances for the first team last season and the arrival of Antonio Rudiger has increased competition at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea said in a statement: “Kurt Zouma has signed a new six-year contract and will spend the 2017/18 season on loan at Stoke City.”

Chelsea technical director Michael Emenalo told www.chelseafc.com: “It is fantastic Kurt has chosen to commit his future to Chelsea. He has shown his talent since joining us three years ago, and has returned from a serious injury with a fantastic attitude.

“Now he has the opportunity to play regularly in the Premier League and we will be monitoring his progress closely while he is at Stoke.”

Zouma took to Twitter to say: “Happy to announce that I have signed a new long term contract with @chelseafc & will be joining @stokecity on loan this season #SCFC.”

The defender was voted Chelsea’s young player of the year in 2014/15, played in the 2015 Capital One Cup final victory over Tottenham and has been part of two Premier League-winning squads.