Chelsea to keep Kurt Zouma despite interest from Schalke 04?

Chelsea have reportedly decided to reject a loan move from Schalke 04 for defender Kurt Zouma.

Over the weekend, reports emerged that the Bundesliga club wanted to sign the French international - who is currently recovering from a serious knee injury - on a temporary basis.

However, according to the Daily Mail, Blues boss Antonio Conte is keen to keep the 21-year-old at Stamford Bridge with the club currently struggling for numbers in defence.

Zouma is not expected to be back in contention for another four to six weeks but the West Londoners have, so far, failed to add a centre-back and left-back to their ranks.

They do, however, hope to complete the signing of Fiorentina's Marcos Alonso in the next 48 hours.