Kurt Zouma looks set to play a big part in Frank Lampard's Chelsea team this season after the head coach stated his desire to keep the Frenchman at the club.
Spending the 2017/18 season on loan at Stoke City to get some much-needed minutes under his belt, the defender was sent out on loan 12 months ago as he headed for Everton.
Zouma excelled in his time at Goodison Park and the Toffees now want to bring him back to Merseyside on a permanent deal.
However, as Chelsea currently aren't allowed to bring players in, as well as the fact they have a new boss, getting a deal over the line was always going to prove extremely tricky for Everton
Lampard has spent the past couple of weeks working with Zouma and he clearly has been impressed with what he's seen from the 24-year-old so far.
The club's record goalscorer has some very good defensive options at his disposal and it is going to be an extremely tough choice with Antonio Rudiger, David Luiz, Andreas Christensen, Fikayo Tomori and Zouma to choose from.
It has been a while since Chelsea fans last saw the French international play competitively for the club but he has claimed that he has improved on every single area of his game following his loan spell at Everton.
"After my injury I just wanted to play week in, week out," he said after the club's training session in Saitama on Sunday. "By going there playing week in, week out is what I did.
"I improved myself technically and tactically and every aspect with the manager there. It was very nice for me."
Pushed on what specific areas he improved on, he said: "Everything. Tactically and technically as a defender. The way to defend opposition maybe.
"I still have a lot to learn but I think I've done a lot since my injury and I'm happy with this."
Lampard was always going to take his time to assess all the players at Chelsea this summer given the huge influx of those returning from loan spells elsewhere.
It does appear that it hasn't taken him much time to make a decision over Zouma's future and the player himself has revealed that they spoke together following his return to pre-season training.
"We had a chat once," said the defender. "At the beginning of pre-season we had a chat and he's been very good with me.
"He's a very good manager and we have a lot of talk at the beginning of pre-season and that's it."
Amid all the speculation regarding a potential permanent move to Everton, Lampard's comments about wanting to keep the player seem to have gone down very well with Zouma.
"I'm very happy because I've been working hard in pre-season and the team is working very hard," he added.
"I'm happy with what he [Lampard] said about me, that means he sees the work I'm doing and I'm pleased with that.
"There's a lot of talk but I'm a Chelsea player. I'm a Chelsea player and we'll see what happens.
"Yeah I'm happy to be here, but the most important is to work and prepare for the season very well."
