Chelsea are close to adding Kurt Zouma from St. Etienne, according to Sky Sports. Zouma would be immediately loaned back to the French club for the remainder of the season so he wouldn't put on a Blues shirt until the summer. The transfer fee is reported to be £12.5 million.
Chelsea on verge of signing Kurt Zouma
Kurt Zouma looks bound for Stamford Bridge.
Ian Walton
Zouma has been linked to Chelsea for much of the window and Jose Mourinho talked about him as one of the young players the Blues had been hoping to add for the future. The 19-year-old helped France win the U-20 World Cup just a year ago and has been the subject of interest from most of Europe's top clubs.
The move for Zouma brings into question the future of John Terry, who is out of contract after the season. The 33-year-old is hoping for a long-term contract, but Chelsea have a policy of only offering one-year extensions to players in their thirties and they have no yet budged.
If Chelsea do complete the move for Zouma, their January spending will pass £45 million, making them one of the window's biggest spenders. The bulk of that went to pay for Nemanja Matic, but they also added Mohamed Salah. The Blues have been plenty prudent, though, selling Juana Mata and Kevin De Bruyne for £53.5 million so they are still coming out ahead on fee.
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