Chelsea great Gianfranco Zola insists foreign imports are good for young English players.

Zola has recalled joining Napoli when Diego Maradona was club captain.

"Finally they have bought someone shorter than me," joked Maradona when Zola arrived from Sardinian team Torres in 1989. Maradona took the Italian under his wing to help nurture a genius. Zola saw a similar situation at Chelsea.

"I don't think John Terry would have been the player he was if he hadn't had Marcel Desailly or Frank Leboeuf in front of him with us at Chelsea," Zola told the Daily Mail.

"What makes you better is not playing every single game in a modest championship. What makes you better is playing 10 games in a very competitive league. Because of players like myself, Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and so many others, the game in England is at such a high level.

"If you want to be involved you have to be as good. And then, if you are good enough, you will become very good.

"There is a common mistake people make. They say, "We need to play the young English boys". Of course, but only if they are good. How can you measure that? If they are playing with good players and if they can fit into the level of the good players. That's why, because of the level of the Premier League, England has so many talented players."