St Etienne’s Zouma is set to make the switch to Stamford Bridge.
With less than two days left in the January transfer window, Chelsea are set to tie up their third deal of the month with a move for Saint-Etienne’s Kurt Zouma.
Reports are coming from France that the Blues have finalised the move with the Ligue 1 club, with an offer of £15m being quoted and then a loan move back to St Etienne until the end of the season.
Zouma will apparently cost Chelsea around £15m, may be loaned back for rest of season. Medical could be today.
— Sport Witness (@Sport_Witness) January 30, 2014
However, the Mirror says that the 19-year-old’s club are holding out for nearer to £18m for the defender, who has risen to fame at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in the last few years.
Jose Mourinho is keen to sign Zouma and has even contacted the teenager to let him know that the west London club plan to make a move for the France under-21 international.
“There was advanced contact last month. At the start I thought it was a joke but afterwards I quickly took [Mourinho’s] call seriously,” the centre-back was quoted by the Daily Mail on January 16.
“When a great man like Jose Mourinho calls a little player like Kurt Zouma, it’s nice. It doesn’t happen every day and it’s a big sign of respect and confidence.
“If you tell me to go to Chelsea, I’ll go there immediately! Especially after the call from the coach. It’s given me ideas.”
However, the St Etienne co-president Roland Romeyer is not going to allow the starlet to leave the club on the cheap and is holding out for more money.
“Some clubs have launched a bid for the player, but we will not change our strategy,” Romeyer was quoted by Le10Sport.
“There have been discussions for Zouma with English, Italian and French clubs, but he will not be leaving this month unless we find an agreement with some of the potential buyers.
“If not, he will have to wait until the summer. We are under no obligation to sell.”
Manchester United have also shown interest in Zouma, but David Moyes is also keen not to pay over the odds for the Frenchman and is likely to pull out of the race.
The youngster broke into the St Etienne first team in 2011 after progressing from their academy and has since played 61 matches for the club in all competitions.
Zouma is most comfortable when playing in central defence, but can also operate at right-back and the arrival of the youngster at Stamford Bridge is likely to signal the end of David Luiz’s time in the English capital.
Check out the 10 worst Chelsea flops of the Premier League era.
Read more Chelsea transfer news.
COMMENTS