The journey back from such a serious injury is a long one, so while it was obviously a huge boost for everybody to see Zouma out on the grass, there is still plenty of work to be done.

In terms of when he will be available for selection, he is keen not to put himself under too much pressure.

‘I don’t know, I will need to discuss that with the manager and the medical team,’ he says. ‘I’m not fit enough yet but hopefully in six weeks or a couple of months I will be, we will have to wait and see.’

As any player will testify, being out injured, particularly for such a long period, is the most difficult part of being a footballer.

Prior to the injury Zouma had been playing extremely well, growing in stature and confidence with each performance. He had every chance of being selected for the France squad at Euro 2016, a competition which was played on home soil, before his campaign was curtailed on that freezing cold Sunday afternoon at Stamford Bridge.

Zouma has never been out of action for such a long period of time, and he explains how he’s coped.

‘It’s been really hard but if you’re strong mentally you can do anything,’ he says. ‘It’s football, lots of players have had big injuries and been out for a while.

‘It’s important to stay positive in your mind and say to yourself: "Okay, I’ve been unlucky to get a bad injury but I will come back stronger.” You have to be determined.

‘I’m the type of person who doesn’t like to be negative, I always try to be positive and have a laugh and joke with the guys and my family. The time has gone quite quickly, it’s been five months but it only feels like about two.

‘I watched the Euros on TV with my family and there were a few days when I went out but generally I’ve just been working hard to get fit.’

Zouma is now looking ahead to the new season and the opportunity to work under a new head coach in Antonio Conte, who spoke about the defender’s progress yesterday, saying: ‘We know he is recovering but I know he needs more time to recover. It’s important we don’t push him. I had the same injury and I know from experience when the player is ready to go.'

Despite the defender not being able to play in matches at the moment, Conte has made him feel part of the group from his very first day in the job.

Zouma was invited to travel to Austria, and he has sat in on all of the team meetings since the Italian took charge to ensure he is fully aware of how the boss expects his team to play.

‘I’m really pleased about that,’ he says. ‘He’s brought me on the tour so I’m really happy. He’s a good guy and a very good manager. We are working hard with him and he wants to create a strong team spirit in the group. He has a lot of quality. He has new ideas so we all need to watch him and be aware of what he wants from us.’