The French center-back has stated that the newly appointed Tottenham Hotspur manager had helped him adjust to life in the Premier League as well as London during his stint at Chelsea.
Zouma joined the Stamford Bridge outfit from Ligue 1 side Saint-Etienne back in 2014 and played a combined 58 games over his first two seasons in English football for the Blues.
During his time with Chelsea, the 25-year-old won the Premier League title in his first season in the league as well as his third, a campaign where he was used sparingly under Italian manager Antonio Conte as he recovered from an ACL injury.
Zouma then went on to spend time at Stoke City and Everton over the recent past but returned to the Chelsea line up under the management of Frank Lampard in the summer. But the defender has claimed that Jose Mourinho is the man who deserves credit for helping him adapt to life in England and grooming him to play for the west London club.
Having made 19 appearances already for Lampard this season, Zouma explained to France Football, why he has a lot of admiration and gratitude towards the 56-year-old Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho, “It was Mourinho who opened the gates of England to me. I was only 19 when I arrived there. I was young. He also gave me confidence by making me play big games with a lot of intensity. He was the one who showed me what football was like in England. The ‘Special One’ is a man who hates losing. He taught me to hate defeat. Thanks to him, I was able to flourish at Chelsea. He gave me a lot of things and taught me a lot. I thank him.”
Zouma has been quite solid at the back for Chelsea although Lampard’s side keeps conceding plenty of goals on a regular basis as they sit in fourth place on the Premier League table at the moment after their 2-1 defeat against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium this Saturday.
