Kurt Zouma insists he bears no guilt about Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea exit

Kurt Zouma has insisted he feels no guilt over how Jose Mourinho left Chelsea last season.

Rumours of a player mutiny were rife during the dismal first half of the season showing from Chelsea and Mourinho was the one shown the door in December 2015.

Mourinho is now in charge at Manchester United with Antonio Conte taking over from the Portuguese at Stamford Bridge.

And Zouma thinks Chelsea should focus on the future under their new boss.

‘My first year at Chelsea we won the Capital One Cup and then the Premier League. I was dreaming,’ Zouma told The Mirror.

‘But managers go. It’s part of football. I don’t feel guilty.

‘Mourinho’s gone, let’s think about the future.

‘It was a bad season, now we are doing well again.

‘Conte loves what he does. He wants to give that special feeling to us.’

Conte’s arrival in the Premier League has breathed new life into Chelsea as they have left the troubles of last season behind.

The Italian’s passion is almost infectious and Zouma explained how Conte is transferring his enthusiasm to his players.

Zouma first met Conte on the pre-season tour to America and the new boss made an immediate impression on him.

‘I didn’t know him (Conte) before, he didn’t know me,’ he said.

‘He’d just watched me in the odd game on TV, but just one or two times maybe.

‘Then he said he trusted me. Those words made a difference.

‘He’s a really nice guy. He thinks, eats and sleeps football.

‘He talks football, everything is football with him.

‘He’s so passionate and he wants to give that to the players.

‘Tactically we watch a lot of videos and we learn. Details are important to him.

‘You learn a lot with him, a lot. The Italian style is very good for defenders.’

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