Kurt Zouma insists he has no regrets over decision to join Chelsea from Saint-Etienne

Kurt Zouma insists he has no regrets over his decision to join Chelsea from Saint-Etienne in January 2014 despite having not yet established himself as a regular first-team fixture at Stamford Bridge.

The French centre-back has made just six starts in the Premier League so far this term, yet is obviously highly regarded by manager Jose Mourinho as evidenced by the latter's decision to deploy Zouma in a defensive midfield role in order to counter the significant threat of Marouane Fellaini during the 1-0 win over Manchester United on 18 April.

This was a position he also filled confidently during the League Cup final success against Tottenham Hotspur in March.

And while Chelsea are obviously exercising caution with regards to Zouma's development, he claims a lack of regular first-team football has not led to him questioning his position at a club for which he clearly retains significant affection.

"I do not regret joining Chelsea at all, because it's the club I've always loved," the 20-year-old told Canal+ as reported by the London Evening Standard. "I did not play much at first but now it's starting to get better and I am very happy."

Zouma praised by boss Mourinho

Mourinho was effusive in his praise of Zouma after Chelsea ended Manchester United's six-match winning run courtesy of a goal from Eden Hazard, lauding his versatility and beaming at the potential for the player to remain at the west London club for years to come.

He said: "I told Zouma I want the game to be 10 against 10, I didn't want the game to be 11 against 11. During the week we were working for that and the game was 10 against 10."

"See the jobs he is doing for us, as a central defender playing against [Sergio] Aguero, as a central defender playing against [Raheem] Sterling," he added.

"He played as the holding midfield player against Tottenham in a system with only one holding midfield player. Against Man United he played to stop Fellaini from playing in the box. He is doing amazing jobs for us. He is mentally very, very strong, too. Not just physically, mentally he is very strong.

"He's learned a lot from a tactical point of view since his arrival. So we can imagine with him being aged 20, Chelsea has 10 years of Zouma."

The latest victory for leaders Chelsea finally laid to rest any lingering doubts as to whether they were capable of finishing the season in triumph after the very briefest of late wobbles suffered in March.

Their lead over nearest challengers and next opponents Arsenal now stands at 10 points, with the Gunners having been in FA Cup action, and Mourinho's side are now just two victories away from sealing their first top-flight title since 2010.