(Reuters) - Everton have signed French centre back Kurt Zouma on a season-long loan from Chelsea, the Premier League clubs announced on Friday.
The Merseyside club made a late move for the 23-year-old ahead of Thursday's 1600 GMT (5 pm BST) transfer deadline, and had to wait until Friday to learn if their bid was successful.
Zouma has made 71 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea before falling out of favour under former manager Antonio Conte, featuring in only nine league matches during the title winning 2016-17 campaign.
He spent last season at Stoke City and made 34 league appearances but could not prevent their relegation from the top-flight.
Zouma joins Brazil midfielder Bernard, Barcelona trio Yerry Mina, Andre Gomes and Lucas Digne, Richarlison and goalkeeper Joao Virginia in arriving at Goodison Park in the close season.
(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)