Kurt Zouma injury leaves Chelsea little choice – they must extend John Terry’s contract

As the tough 21-year-old Frenchman writhed in agony on the Stamford Bridge pitch, it was very clear to all that this was no minor scrape for Kurt Zouma.

The blood-curdling scream that followed the defender's hyper-extension of his knee joint will be forgotten by few who witnessed it in person or on television. And though Chelsea presently await a clear prognosis, the chances do not look good. The most likely scenario, one relating to either the meniscus or the anterior cruciate ligament, is an injury that was once career-threatening.

Thankfully, medicine is now at the stage where young sportsmen's livelihoods are not as seriously threatened by these sorts of injuries as they were back in the day of players like Pierluigi Casiraghi. The Italian never played again after his cruciate tear, despite undergoing ten restorative operations after 1998 injury.

But still, if the diagnosis is as expected, then Zouma is facing at least six months out of the game.

The question then would be less one of whether his season is over, and more one of how much of the next campaign he will miss. Zouma had been the breakthrough success of Chelsea's dire season: the one name to trouble Willian for the title of player of the season. His emergence as a first choice centre half has had many consequences for the club and its players.

Obviously, he has improved the back four: but in a player who is still clearly learning the ropes, he has been prone to errors which, given his physicality and mobility, he has been reasonably adept at covering. It has also led to disenchantment elsewhere: Gary Cahill, a settled England international and vice captain, has had little game time, leading to questions over his long-term Chelsea future.

And then there is the case of Terry.

The public relations war of words over his future looks likely to last the rest of the season. Having announced his likely departure from the club last Sunday in Milton Keynes, Chelsea fought back – insisting options and dialogue were open.

But Terry, strategically presented by Sky with the man of the match champagne after the United game (it is not unknown for a broadcaster to give these awards based on who they want in the post-match interview suite), nailed that one straight down on camera.

“There is no communication between me & the club at this minute,” he countered. Ouch!

One imagines, from the way in which these words were delivered, Terry had agreed (as he has done many times before) to go on screen so long as talk of contract was off-limits. His rapid getaway from the cameras suggested he was not at all comfortable facing the question which, to be fair to Sky's Geoff Shreeves, would be a matter of professional negligence were it not asked.

But, regardless of the battles being fought by Terry and Chelsea in public, the Zouma situation does take things onto another level.

While, even with the availability of Zouma and Cahill, Terry's imminent release looked questionable; removing one of those options for an unclear amount of time makes it even less sustainable as a business move.

Sunday night was spent by pundits and fans assessing back-up options including newly signed American Matt Miazga (a long way off being a first team option), and the loaned-out Senegalese centre half Papy Djilobodji (never likely to be one). Branislav Ivanovic is only an option there if you reshuffle the defence completely – meaning Cesar Azpilicueta at right back, and Baba Rahman (who also looks a long way off Premier League quality right now) on the left.

Terry and Zouma are close – the reaction of the youngster to the veteran's big announcement of last week (“Shocked! I am shocked!”) made that clear.

And, should this be the catalyst for an embarrassing climbdown by the club, there is no way the 35-year-old will have wanted it to happen that way.

But, depending on the news we hear over the next few days and weeks about Zouma, Chelsea may now have little choice but to extend their captain's contract by another year.