Kurt Zouma is looking to learn from his idol John Terry at Chelsea this season.

Zouma signed for the Blues from St Etienne last January but was immediately loaned back to the Ligue 1 outfit for the remainder of the campaign.

He has been taking part in his first training sessions with his new team-mates at Cobham this week and is looking forward to pre-season with Chelsea.

The 19-year-old grew up watching his new defensive colleague Terry on TV and cannot wait to link up with one of his childhood heroes.

Zouma of Saint-Etienne celebrates with team mates after scoring the first goal for the team during their French Ligue 1 soccer match against Olympique Lyon in Lyon
New Blue: Kurt Zouma is yet to make his Chelsea debut

“My favourite footballers as a kid were John Terry and Mamadou Sakho,” Zouma told Chelsea’s official website.

“Terry is a great leader and the perfect example to young players starting out in the game.

“It’s very exciting for me, I’ve always looked up to him as a player and now I just want to learn as much as possible from him.

“I spoke to him briefly and he’s a very nice man.”

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Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will run the rule over Zouma over the next few weeks in Surrey and hinted back in January that his performances during this period would determine whether he is ready for first-team action.

“He’ll join us in pre-season, then we’ll decide if he stays or goes on loan,” Mourinho said after the deal was first confirmed.

“He’s a young player in a position we need for the future. Job done.

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“He’s very young. He’s playing already a couple of seasons in the French league with St Etienne. He’s played many international matches with his country – we know he’s a player with good potential.

“There's big space for improvement. He’s physically ready, another thing is to be tactically ready.”

Should Mourinho decide the teenager would benefit from a loan spell away from Stamford Bridge there are a host of clubs interested in taking the defender, with Sunderland among those leading the chase.