Photo: BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images

Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma will not be part of the Chelsea team in the 2017/18 campaign as the 22-year-old has joined Stoke City on loan in a one-year deal.

Zouma has signed a new six-year contract and will spend the 2017/18 season on loan at Stoke City, the official Chelsea website has confirmed.

Zouma has been a first-team squad member since arriving in the summer of 2014. He has made 71 appearances for the Blues so far and scored four goals.

He couldn’t break into the first team last season after suffering a horrific injury that took him out of the team for about nine months.

Zouma has won the Premier League twice since joining from St Etienne three-and-a-half years ago. He was also part of the team which beat Tottenham in the League Cup final in 2015.