West Ham vs Chelsea: Kurt Zouma can follow in John Terry's footsteps as a leader, says Jose Mourinho

Chelsea’s manager says that Kurt Zouma is playing ‘more than he or I expected’ this season

Kurt Zouma (GETTY IMAGES)

Jose Mourinho says that Kurt Zouma can one day give Chelsea the leadership that John Terry has offered over his long career at the club, but that the young Frenchman will have to forge his own identity as a player first.

Zouma, 20, has forced his way into the team ahead of schedule this season and played holding midfield in the Capital One Cup final triumph over Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend, prompting Mourinho to suggest that the defender is ready for his first senior France cap.

Mourinho said that Terry was “guaranteed” a new contract at the end of the season to replace his current one-year deal. Asked to compare Zouma with the club captain, he said that there would never be another Terry, but that the younger man could grow into a leader.

Mourinho said: “It will be difficult to find a John replica. Sometimes you get replicas of players. Other times you can’t do it, and if you can’t replace him with a replica, Zouma now is 20 and at 23 or 24 will be a player of great maturity. Probably [capable of] leadership, too, to replace John. Zouma this season is playing more than I expected, more than he expected.”

Zouma is by no means guaranteed a start against West Ham tonight when Chelsea return to their Premier League campaign, having benefited from Manchester City’s defeat to Liverpool on Sunday. Nemanja Matic is serving the second game of his two-match suspension and, with John Obi Mikel still injured, it is possible that Zouma could stay in midfield.

Jose Mourinho and John Terry celebrate with the Capital One Cup on Sunday (Getty Images)

Mourinho said that Terry had responded well to the challenge of earning a new one-year contract, now a club policy at Chelsea for the older players in the squad. “At Chelsea,” Mourinho said, “we decided at a certain age – to provoke the players, to stimulate the players, to make them feel the past doesn’t play a role and it’s all about the present and tomorrow – they get a one-year of contract.

“If they don’t accept, they are not ready for the challenge, and we wouldn’t want them. John accepted that challenge last year. That is a guarantee the fire is there. If the fire is there, this contract will not be the last contract he signs.”

Mourinho said that the visit to West Ham, on the night Manchester City play Leicester at home, was “a massive match”. “They [West Ham] have nothing to lose. They don’t feel any kind of pressure. West Ham with all the good players they have, in midfield and attack, Sam [Allardyce] is being very positive. It’s a very difficult match for us.”