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New Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has stated that he won’t rush Kurt Zouma back into the team.

He said that the player needs time to recover following his injury and to get back his fitness.

The French player sustained the injury in a match against Manchester United and had been recovering since then.

The prognosis was that Kurt Zouma would have been out for six months, but now it is believed that the player will not be back until the end of the year. Antonio Conte believes that after such a long time from playing, he will need some time to adapt and to get back into the game.

John Obi Mikel is one of the ironman players of Chelsea as the Nigerian has made over 350 appearances for the Premier League club and ever since joining Stamford Bridge in 2006, he has consistently been making over 20 appearances in every season but rumors are linking him with a move away from the English outfit.

Branislav Ivanovic and John Terry are veteran players who have reached the age mark of 30+ but despite their elevated age, both of them had their contract extended for 1 more season but this has not happened with John Obi Mikel as his future is still up for grabs.

Eden Hazard was a major factor in Chelsea winning the Premier League 2014-15 and his performances were rightly regarded as the best from that campaign.

It saw him crowned as the PFA Player of the Year. However, he has been one of the biggest disappointments in the 2015-16 season. Former manager José Mourinho and current manager Guus Hiddink were unable to explain the massive dip in form experienced by the Belgian international. Some saw this as a sign that the player was trying to engineer a move away from the club with the likes of Paris St Germain and Real Madrid showing interest.

Chelsea are set to replace Branislav Ivanovic this summer as the club searches for his replacement. With incoming coach Anthonio Conte given a huge task to lead the team to glory, he wants to revamp the team to his taste meaning players like Ivanovic could leave the club or get set for fewer appearances at Stamford Bridge in the coming season.

Conte is currently on official duty for the Azzurri’s Euro 2016 campaign but will resume at the club immediately the tournament ends. The 46-year-old spent three years in charge of the Old Lady before he stood down to take on the challenge of managing the Italy national team. He worked with Stephan Lichtsteiner during his three-year term guiding Juventus to three successive Serie A titles.

Chelsea are reported to be close to signing FC Porto winger Yacine Brahimi, although his club have admitted to being in talks with other clubs, as the Blues try to add more players to the club this summer. The deal for Brahimi is a tough bidding war, but the club are confident of convincing the player to join them at Stamford Bridge, according to reports by Portuguese website O Jogo.

Wolfsburg, AC Milan, Premier league rival Liverpool and others are keen on landing the highly-rated Algerian winger this summer, but Chelsea hope to complete the deal within a few days. According to the reports, the deal is in advanced stages and Porto want £30million for the player. However, the club has a poor financial position and has issues with the Financial Fair Play rules, hence a fee of £15m looks more likely.