Three big questions: Chelsea’s Kurt Zouma and common sense

2. Has he already hit his ceiling or is there more to come?

Part of why Chelsea may even fancy the thought of selling Zouma is his potential. Antonio Rudiger’s bad year can be chalked off due to his injury issues. Andreas Christensen still has promise, even if it may take a miracle to draw it out some days. Tomori obviously has the potential if every thing on and off the field can be aligned in the right way. But Zouma may be exactly what he is now.

Zouma’s injury a few years ago required him to go out on loan to find his way again. He struggled somewhat at Stoke before eventually finding his feet at Everton. He was not quite the same player as before, but he was good. At Chelsea he has been good. The concern is if that is the best he has now.

Chelsea needs good defenders, but they need great ones far more. The Blues already have four defenders who are good but none that are great. A new signing could, in theory, raise a good defender into a great one but that spot will still need to be opened up.

If Zouma’s already at his ceiling, that player may not be him. Consistency is a valuable skill in a defender for sure, but improvement is even more important. Zouma showed the former this season. He did not necessarily show the latter over the course of the season.

It can be argued that he did improve from his time at Everton though. Especially from his time at Stoke. The Blues will still be looking for more out the Frenchman however, best defender or not.