Jose Mourinho has made it clear he sees France Under-21 international Lassana Diarra as the natural successor to midfield anchorman Claude Makelele at Stamford Bridge.
Diarra was set to line up for France against Peter Taylor's England Under-21 side in the return leg of their European championship qualifier - one of nine Chelsea players still on international duty.
The 20-year-old has made no secret of his happiness at joining up with Mourinho following his £1million switch from Le Havre in the summer.
The midfielder was invited to train with the club during pre-season after Chelsea scout Gwyn Williams monitored Diarra as he played in every game for France en-route to their victory in the Toulon under-20 tournament in May.
A week with the Blues was enough to convince Mourinho and now the Portuguese coach is grooming the midfielder to become the successor to Makelele.
Fellow Frenchman Makelele has already helped Diarra settle in at the club and the youngster earned his first-team debut as a substitute for his boyhood hero during the home win over Real Betis in the Champions League.
Makelele, now 32, also believes Diarra has the potential to take over the holding role he has made his own since arriving from Real Madrid.
"Maka and I are working hard with him so that he will replace him in the team when Maka finishes," confirmed Mourinho.
Makelele is only too keen to help the young pretender learn all he can about the position he has turned into an art form in the Barclays Premiership.
Makelele added: "I had already seen him in the national youth team and now I help him. I'm old so why not tell the younger player things for the future? He's intelligent and has ambition so if it is possible to help him, I will."
For Diarra, Makelele's help has proved to be immense and he admits he has modelled himself on the France international.
"The coach made it clear that he has confidence in me and I've been working like crazy since I arrived," revealed Diarra. "I speak regularly with Mourinho and trust him completely.
"Claude has been my role model for years, so to work alongside him every day is a pure pleasure.
"He's been a great support for me and when the coach says I'm being groomed to replace him, it's an enormous compliment."
Diarra, along with Petr Cech, Paulo Ferreira, Geremi, Ricardo Carvalho, Asier Del Horno, Didier Drogba, Hernan Crespo and Carlton Cole remains on international duty this week while the club's contingent of English, French and German full internationals have returned to training.
