Chelsea FC made a smart buy in youngster Kurt Zouma and Jose Mourinho believes the Frenchman can be the successor to current club captain John Terry. Zouma was purchased last year during the January window for a reported fee of £12 million from Saint-Etienne but finished the season on loan with the French club. He was brought in to Chelsea first team in the 2014 preseason but was not expected to play very much at all.
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Jose Mourinho himself admits that he did not expect Zouma to play very much and that Branislav Ivanovic would be his third centerback. Mourinho said, “I thought in pre-season that Branislav Ivanovic would be my first option to replace John and Gary, but certainly not any more”. Zouma forced his way in to the conversation at Chelsea FC with his excellent play when he was given the opportunity.
Early on Mourinho only trusted Kurt Zouma in low key matches in the domestic cups or against lower level opposition in the Champions League. However after impressing in those matches and in relief of either Gary Cahill or John Terry, it was clear that Chelsea FC had a talented player in the youngster.
With his excellent combination of size and speed, it was clear that Zouma had the physical gifts to play at the top level, he still had some work to do in reading and learning the game. Mourinho believes that while Zouma and Terry “are different players” and Kurt has some growing up to do, he thinks that “one day Zouma will be 23 or 24 and will be a player of great maturity and probably leadership, too, to replace John.”
No one expects Kurt Zouma to replace Chelsea FC’s captain any time soon because as Mourinho puts it, “John is proving again this season that he is a player for years” and that “if the fire (in him) is still there, this contract will not be the last contract he signs”. The manager does still believe that Zouma has some maturing to do but if he continues to play in important matches for Chelsea FC and France then he will develop faster than most despite being just 20 years old.
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Zouma has quite a job ahead of him if he is to beat out the established partnership of Cahill and Terry but many fans are clamoring for him to replace Cahill this season. On Sunday however, Gary Cahill proved he can still be a top defender as he helped shut down the dangerous Tottenham attack. He is not willing to give up his place in the team even if Kurt Zouma is banging down the door for his opportunity to play. Zouma might be the long term successor to John Terry but at the moment he looks like he may be replacing Cahill first.
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