Chelsea goalkeeping coach Christophe Lollichon is of the belief that Kurt Zouma is not quite up to the standard of the great Marcel Desailly.
French centre-back Zouma, 20, was compared to former Blues star Desailly by manager Jose Mourinho following his performance in the Capital One Cup triumph over Tottenham earlier this month.
However, Lollichon knows both players well and feels former Saint-Etienne young gun Zouma certainly has the ability but a fair bit of ground to make up on World Cup winner Desailly.
"You have to be patient, and not compare. Marcel, technique-wise, had more finesse. Kurt is in the process of developing that," he told Offside.fr.
"There's the understanding of the game too. Kurt is young. He has just arrived and he had a very good development at Saint-Etienne.
"He needs to work on his understanding of the game. He is already in the France squad. He is not a first-team regular, either for Chelsea or les Bleus, but he is at the top in terms of his club and his national team.
"He works hard. He is serious. He is focussed on what he has to do.
"Above all he is intelligent enough to do what he can do, and not to try to do too much. And that is very good."
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