Chelsea made their final piece of business in the January transfer window as defender Kurt Zouma arrived from Saint-Etienne for a fee in the region of £12.5m.
The deal wasn’t a surprise as Zouma had confirmed that talks had been held with Blues boss Jose Mourinho and the Frenchman was keen to push things through.
“There was advanced contact last month. At the start I thought it was a joke but afterwards I quickly took [Mourinho’s] call seriously,” the 19-year-old was quoted by the Daily Mail on January 16.
“When a great man like Jose Mourinho calls a little player like Kurt Zouma, it’s nice. It doesn’t happen every day and it’s a big sign of respect and confidence.
“If you tell me to go to Chelsea, I’ll go there immediately! Especially after the call from the coach. It’s given me ideas.”
The Stamford Bridge faithful will have to wait a little longer to see their new man in action however, as Zouma has returned to St Etienne on-loan for the remainder of the year.
So until then here is everything that the supporters need to know about the centre-back.
Zouma is a product of the St Etienne youth system and broke into the first team in 2011, having played 61 times for the club since.
The defensive ace is a France under-21 international and has represented the country at every youth level from under-16s upwards.
At 6’2″ Zouma is an imposing figure and the starlet is not afraid to use his physicality on the pitch – as Sochaux’s Thomas Guerbert found out when being on the receiving end of one of the Frenchman’s tackles.
The reckless challenge broke the midfielder’s leg and the teenager was slapped with a 10 match ban as a result of the incident.
Mourinho has already stated that the west London club will review whether or not the defender is ready to join the squad at the end of the campaign – or become another one of the endless forgotten loans.
If Zouma is considered to be ready to come into the fold at the Bridge then it is likely to signal the end of David Luiz at the club.
The manager is unsure of the Brazilian’s defensive capabilities and has preferred the solid partnership of Gary Cahill and John Terry this term.
via@Fanatix