Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has heaped praise on defender Kurt Zouma after the Chelsea loanee made an impression during his early weeks at the bet365 Stadium.
Zouma has agreed to spend the season in the Potteries after falling down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge, and Hughes has described the French international as a player who is worth £40m after having the opportunity to work with him during the past two months.
The 53-year-old is quoted by The Mirror as saying: "Kurt Zouma is a £30-40m centre-half. We can't afford that, but in the loan market we can get him here so that's a good thing. We have to do that because we're not going to go into the market for a £60m player.
"It coincides with the World Cup, so wanting to play week-in, week-out would have been in his thinking. At one point I think he felt he needed to leave Chelsea because he wanted to play regularly but the contract he was offered tied him to them."
Zouma has already made seven starts in all competitions, although the centre-back was forced to miss last weekend's 4-0 defeat to Chelsea due to the terms of his loan deal.
Darren Plant
