Three Reasons Why Signing Kurt Zouma Is A Top Move For Chelsea

Chelsea have reportedly completed the signing of St. Etienne defender Kurt Zouma, with the defenders supposed to remain in France till the end of this season. It is obviously a great signing by Chelsea, and it adds some much needed youthfulness to their backline.

Photo confirmation of Kurt Zouma’s £12m move to Chelsea. Official confirmation tomorrow. (Source: Numerous) pic.twitter.com/bX8p7w1bqf

— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) January 30, 2014

1. Replacement For Terry

Now, Jose Mourinho clearly doesn’t rate David Luiz highly enough to play him at center back, and preferred to deploy him as a defensive midfielder during the festive period. That leaves only John Terry and Gary Cahill as the first choice central defenders available to Mourinho, even though Luiz is a useful backup option.

However, John Terry’s contract is set to expire in the summer, and there has not been any decision yet as to his contract being extended. At 33, Terry is towards the end of his career, and the England international has lost more than a yard of pace. Even though he makes up for it with his positioning and interceptions, playing him means that Chelsea are forced to play deeper than they would ideally want.

With doubts over Terry’s contract situation, Zouma’s addition is a very smart move on the part of Jose Mourinho, who is clearly looking towards the future in this transfer window so far. The 18 year old Frenchman has an outstanding physique and is hardly a pushover in defense and has great upper body strength. He is one of the quickest center backs in Ligue 1 which helps him make up for any mistakes that he does commit while playing with a high line. His strength and pace makes it easy for him to deal with any challenge, be it a more physical forward or a paceier forward- he uses his speed and agility to match up with attackers and dispossess them with his strength.

2. Rock Solid Playing Style

Like Terry, the player who he is likely to replace in the summer, Zouma’s heading ability is very good, and he is rarely beaten in an aerial duel thanks to the incredible leap that he possesses. This could come in really handy for Chelsea when it comes to the defending set-pieces or playing against more physical opponents like Stoke.

He doesn’t dive into tackles very often and generally measured in his tackling since he prefers to use his strength and pace to jockey the opponents off the ball, rarely need to make the last-ditch challenge that is so typical of Gary Cahill and John Terry. Although he does not have the ability to make defense splitting passes like David Luiz, he is comfortable on the ball and can move the ball around the back. However, his long balls need some work, but that will improve with time.

3. Will Gain More Experience Till Summer

Now the decision to allow Zouma to continue his development at St. Etienne is an astute one by Mourinho, since game time would be at a premium for the young center back if he were to join now just before the business end of the season. Chelsea cannot afford to make any mistakes, and they certainly cannot afford Zouma the time to settle into the team right now. Hence, asking him to continue his development in France makes sense as Zoume would have the luxury of a full preseason to acclimatize himself with his teammates and the playing style.

Chelsea have managed to steal a potential gem right from under the noses of opponents who were monitoring him. As he proved with Raphael Varane at Real Madrid, Mourinho is willing to give young players a chance provided they prove themselves worthy of a spot in the team. It’ll now be up to Zouma to prove that he’s worthy of being the successor to John Terry.