Jose Mourinho: Kurt Zouma has potential to become Chelsea captain

CHELSEA boss Jose Mourinho has hinted that Kurt Zouma could one day replace John Terry as the club's captain.

Kurt ZoumaGETTY

Jose Mourinho believes Kurt Zouma has the potential to become Chelsea captain

One day Zouma will be a player with great maturity, probably even with leadership to replace John

Jose Mourinho

Mourinho yesterday revealed that 34-year-old Terry will continue at Stamford Bridge for at least another season.

And now the Blues tactician believes Zouma has the potential to take over as skipper from the former England centre-half, having shown his potential in the first-team.

The 20-year-old has featured 17 times for Chelsea this term, helping the club lift the League Cup at Wembley on Sunday.

"Zouma is now 20 years old and one day he will be 23, 24 and a player with great maturity, probably even with leadership to replace John.

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"This season he is playing more than I expected, more than he expected and more than everyone expected so he is getting experience levels which are very important."

However, Mourinho insists he currently does not require Zouma to become a leader at the back just yet.

He added: "At the moment I see signs of maturity and stability and he does not need to show leadership because we don’t need and don’t demand that from him.

"When one day the team asks him for that then he probably will have that, but at the moment with people like Ivanovic, Terry, Cech, Cahill, Drogba, Matic and Fabregas, the younger guys don’t need to step up."

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