Kurt Zouma Insists He's Happy to Let Others Decide if He Has Returned to Top Form After Injury

Kurt Zouma has said it is not up to him to decide if he is back to his best yet, with the 22-year old insisting that all he wants to do is focus on performing well for his new side Stoke City. 

Zouma has proved a popular addition among the Stoke faithful since he arrived on a season-long loan from Chelsea searching for game time having missed most of 2016 with knee ligament damage. 

Zouma told the Stoke Sentinel: "I feel very well here. I’m playing, I’m happy and I’m getting back to what I used to do before. That’s why I’m here, to help the team and play. I’ll keep going like that. Am I back at my best level? I just do my best every game. People can judge how well I’m playing. I just need to keep focussed on that.”

Potters's boss Mark Hughes has already admitted he would love to keep Zouma for longer than this season but he admitted the France defender was probably worth between £30m and £40m for a permanent transfer. 

ADRIAN DENNIS/GettyImages

Zouma made 47 appearances for Chelsea in the Premier League in his three seasons at Stamford Bridge, being involved in two title winning campaigns, although his injury meant that he was restricted to seven games in the 2016/17 season. 

Zouma is currently enjoying regular first team football at Stoke with the Potters missing a number of key defenders including Ryan Shawcross and Bruno Martins Indi. 

He said: "Unfortunately we’ve had a lot of injuries in defence but the manager does his best and we do our best on the pitch. The thing is, we have a squad, not just 11 players and we have to be ready for anything that can happen." 

Stoke face a daunting looking trip to Manchester City after the international break before a home game against Bournemouth.