Chelsea set to sign Kurt Zouma for £12.5m but loan him back to St Etienne
The Clesea manager has been active in the January window, buying Nemanja Matic and Mohamed Salah for a combined £32m and moving out Juan Mata and Kevin De Bruyne for £53.5m, together with Michael Essien on a free transfer. Mourinho had said at the start of the month that he envisaged no business in or out of the club.
Zouma, the 19-year-old France youth international, who was a part of the team that won the Under-20 World Cup last year, is considered as one for the future at Chelsea and, as such, he fits into Mourinho's long-term plan for the club.
But the acquisition will raise questions about John Terry's future, with the captain, who is out of contract in the summer, yet to agree a new deal. Chelsea have a policy of offering only one-year extensions to players in their thirties - Terry is 33 - and he would like a longer contract.
Mourinho has said that nothing would be discussed with regard to Terry's situation in January but there remained trust on all sides and the confidence that a solution would be found. Terry is enjoying a fine season in which he has not missed a single minute in the Premier League, having previously fallen from favour under the former manager Rafael Benítez.
Zouma has attracted the attention of many clubs, despite being banned for 10 matches in November for a leg-breaking tackle on the Sochaux midfielder Thomas Guerbert, for which he was sent off. Zouma apologised to Guerbert and insisted it was an accident.
