Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma has praised teammate Thiago Silva for the instant impact he has had on the Blues’ dressing room despite only being at the club for a matter of weeks.

The Frenchman and the Brazilian veteran have struck up a decent partnership in the centre of defence in the past few games and Zouma says he is very happy to learn from a player who has so much experience:

“You can see straight away, as soon as he [Thiago Silva] walked through the door at Cobham, he gives advice to the players around him, he’s really good with people and you can definitely see he has very good leadership skills. For me, he’s got everything. He’s calm on the ball, he can defend very well, his positioning is great. I’m very happy he’s here and excited to learn from him.”

Recruiting Silva on a free transfer could well turn out to be just as important a signing as the likes of Timo Werner and Kai Havertz. Since Frank Lampard’s appointment as manager, the team has struggled defensively and it was widely felt that the club lacked leaders at the back.

The 36-year-old’s arrival was seen as the solution to that problem and while it may well only be a short-term fix, having someone like him in defence could, as Zouma says, prove invaluable this campaign.