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According to Sky Sports (who called the club), St. Etienne are ready to announce the Kurt Zouma deal whenever Chelsea are. That's not much of a surprise -- reports of a fee being agreed have been floating around for the better part of a day at this point, and now the transfer is out of the Ligue 1 club's hands. What's left? Well, Zouma needs to pass a medical and then agree personal terms, which considering that Chelsea and the player have been in contact for weeks shouldn't be too much of an issue.
Also confirmed was the nature of the deal. There's been speculation that the young centre half would be immediately loaned back to St. Etienne for the remainder of the season to join Chelsea in the summer, which is exactly what sounds like happening when his signature is secured -- Zouma is expected to be back in France immediately after Chelsea unveil him.
At this point, it seems this signing is more about when, not if.