Mourinho wants to do for Kurt Zouma what he did for Raphael Varane

Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma signed with the club in January, and will be joining the first team this summer while the bulk of the squad is away at the World Cup. That ought to give Jose Mourinho some time to really get to know the young center back, and from what Zouma had to say recently, he's already got big plans for him:

"I really wanted to go to Chelsea. Did I have other offers? Yes, there were Internazionale, Monaco and Manchester United. All those clubs called," he told France Football magazine. When I had a phone call from Mourinho, I thought someone was imitating him. First, I could hardly talk. It is very flattering to have a call from one of the best coaches in the world."

"He told me I have an interesting profile and he wanted to do with me what he did with Raphael Varane at Real Madrid. Thanks to him he became one of the best French defenders. When you hear that, you reply yes immediately. Being one of the best French defenders is an objective for me."

We already knew that Zouma chose Chelsea over Monaco and Inter Milan, but confirmation that he also chose to join us over Manchester United is wonderful. After all, in Manchester he'd have had a far less daunting task to break into the starting eleven.

Zouma is one of the prospects in the Chelsea system that I'm most excited about, as he's just got the rare combination of size and athleticism that's nearly impossible to find. Here's hoping Mourinho does for him exactly what he did for Varane.