Michael Keane has admitted he had hoped Kurt Zouma would return to Everton this summer, but ultimately it was out of the club’s hands.

The England international claimed to be disappointed that the French defender, who signed for the Toffees on a season-long loan last campaign, remained with Chelsea for the current season.

The 24-year old quickly forged a strong defensive partnership with Keane at Goodison Park last season, however with Chelsea under a transfer embargo, Frank Lampard was keen to keep the France international this summer.

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So far this campaign, Zouma has played 11 times in all competitions for the Blues, playing seven times in the Premier League.

Marco Silva was determined to sign both of last season’s loanees in Zouma and Andre Gomes in the summer, however he was only able to bring the Barcelona midfielder back to Merseyside.

Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, Keane confirmed his disappointment at Zouma having not returned, but he wouldn’t rule out something happening in the future. Keane said:

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.

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.

Keane also confirmed that he had spoken to the defender about potentially returning to Everton last summer.

The former Burnley man revealed that while it was an uphill task from the beginning, it was ultimately out of Zouma’s hands. Keane continued:

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

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.

Read Everton Verdict

It did always seem to be an uphill battle for Everton to sign Zouma in the summer, but the club certainly had to try.

Such was the France international’s impact last season, that Everton fans are still calling on the club to launch a bid in January.

Zouma hasn’t exactly hit the ground running at Stamford Bridge this season, so many fans feel that there is a chance for the Toffees to convince him into considering his options in January.

While he may be a costlier option, he would be reliable, and the majority of the fan base would welcome him back with open arms.