Frank Lampard has hailed a ‘fantastic’ performance from Kurt Zouma with the reported Tottenham Hotspur target helping to secure a vital 3-2 away win at Crystal Palace on Tuesday, speaking to Football London.
While there wasn’t a whole lot the France international could do to stop Wilfried Zaha powering a laser-guided rocket into Kepa’s net in the first half, it was his moment of defensive brilliance late on which ensured that The Blues have kept the chasing pack at arms length.
The long-serving centre-back made a sensational late tackle to deny Christian Benteke what looked to be a certain goal late on at Selhurst Park.
And with the Express reporting that Jose Mourinho is confident of luring his former Stamford Bridge favourite to Tottenham this summer, Zouma’s heroism at Selhurst Park will certainly have piqued the interest of a coach who once compared him to a young Marcel Desailly.
Though, after Tuesday’s performance, you’d imagine that Lampard will not be looking to lose his £12 million powerhouse any time soon.
“Kurt makes a great tackle. In those last moments it was nerve-wracking for us,” the Chelsea boss says.
“It was fantastic from Kurt. You are right, I think at Watford (a 3-0 win on Saturday) he played a really great game as well.
“Imposing for his defending and good on the ball. That’s everything I want and defenders might not always get credit for those sort of moments.
“Goal scorers get those but it was definitely a goal saving tackle at the end. It saves us those two points. I am really pleased with him.”
Zouma has been in and out of the Chelsea XI over the last few months but, then again, no centre-back in Lampard’s squad has started more Premier League games than his 21.
Though if Declan Rice does return to Stamford Bridge from West Ham, maybe the Blues will be more receptive to Spurs’ interest.
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