91% tackle success: Why Chelsea need this no-nonsense “future France captain”

The fact that Kurt Zouma is banned from French football until February after breaking the leg of Sochaux’s Thomas Guerbert has done little to reduce the transfer speculation which continues to swirl around St Etienne’s 19-year-old centre-back. Tipped to captain France in the future by Didier Deschamps, Zouma was banned for ten games after his reckless challenge at the beginning of November yet remains a target for Chelsea amongst others, according to the Metro.

Prior to the his ban, Zouma had featured in all but one game for St Etienne, displaying composure and ability which would have been praised in someone who has played many more times than the 51 appearances he has. It is thought that a sum of around £13 million could be enough to bring Zouma to Stamford Bridge and Jose Mourinho, who believes his side to be vulnerable in defence, has made the gigantic defender a big transfer target.

Zouma does the defensive basics exceptionally well, tackling strongly and dominating the aerial battles which he finds himself in. This is evident from the youngster’s statistics this season, as he has won 91% of his tackles and 80% of his headers – though, as he stands at 6ft 3in, this comes as little surprise. Zouma would add strength to a defence which, although it has conceded the second lowest number of goals in the Premier League, shipped three goals to both Stoke and Sunderland in December.

You may notice from the above graph that Zouma has attempted only 11 tackles so far this season. This is mostly due to his excellent positional sense which means that the 19-year-old’s game focuses more on prevention rather than cure; it has seen him make an astounding 102 clearances this season which, prior to Zouma’s ban, was one of the highest in Ligue 1. This excellent defensive awareness is something which cannot be trained and makes Zouma an extremely enticing prospect.

Zouma averages 11 defensive actions per game

In possession, Zouma is an assured presence and he has completed an average of 86% of his passes this season – including a 100% pass completion rate against Paris Saint-Germain. With an average pass length of 24 metres, it is clear that Zouma is not content to play short, simple passes to his midfielders and instead looks to put the ball in threatening positions; this is a trait which could offer something different to Chelsea’s attacks and as such makes the Frenchman an even more tantalising player.

Zouma successfully finds a team-mate with 86% of his attempted passes

A player of Zouma’s calibre will not remain at St Etienne for much longer and the above statistics make clear the reason why; he is strong in defence and composed in possession, attributes which make him an excellent defender and endear him to potential buyers across Europe. It is no secret that Jose Mourinho is waving Roman’s chequebook in St Etienne’s direction in order to secure the services of a player whose future looks exceptionally bright, and based on what is listed above he is not making a mistake.