Michael Keane reveals Kurt Zouma disappointment | OneFootball

Michael Keane has revealed he tried and failed to convince Kurt Zouma to join Everton permanently this summer.

Zouma spent last season on loan at the Toffees from Chelsea and there was lots of talk of him of making a permanent switch to Goodison Park.

But Chelsea’s transfer ban meant the Frenchman ended up staying at Stamford Bridge and Keane has admitted he was disappointed.

“Obviously [Kurt] was brilliant for us and a great person to have around the squad as well so I’m disappointed he didn’t come,” the England defender told the Liverpool Echo.

“But that’s not because of anything to do with football ability because Yerry [Mina] is perfectly capable of doing that as well as he’s proven.

“Kurt is back at Chelsea now so that is sort of out of our control. We wish him well and he’s seemingly starting to find his feet there now which is good for him.

“He was a fantastic player for us and I loved playing with him so you never know in the future.”

Zouma has already made 11 appearances for Chelsea in all competitions this season but Keane says he had several conversations with the 24-year-old about a move to Everton over the summer.

“Yeah! I did [ask him about the potential move] a good few times!” he added.

“Unfortunately it didn’t look like it was going to happen at any point really. I said ‘when are you coming?’

“To be fair, he loved his time here and he’s gone back to Chelsea and it’s a chance for him to impress and the manager wanted to keep him so he didn’t really have a say.”

Everton are likely to dip into the transfer market for a new centre-back in January and Keane says he would welcome some extra competition in that department.

“I think competition is always healthy and it pushes you on no-matter what position you are on the pitch,” he continued.

“It just keeps you on your toes. We’ve got competition here but the more the merrier, really.

“It keeps things fresh, makes you work that bit harder and you have to prove yourself every single game and you can’t let it slip or you will lose your place in the team.”