West
Ham are in talks with Chelsea over the possibility of signing defender Kurt
Zouma.
The 26-year-old arrived from Saint-Etienne in 2014 but is entering the final
two years of his contract at Stamford Bridge.
A player-plus-cash swap deal for Sevilla centre-back Jules Kounde has also
been mooted but it is believed Zouma is settled in London and would welcome
a move to West Ham.
The Hammers are prepared to pay around £20m for the Frenchman, which falls
below Chelsea's valuation.
Zouma has featured 150 times for Chelsea, scoring ten goals and is a winner
of two Premier League titles, three FA Cups, the League Cup and the
Champions League.
However, since Thomas Tuchel's appointment in January, Zouma has played just
13 times in all competitions with the German head coach preferring Antonio
Rudiger instead.
Rudiger himself has less than 12 months remaining on his contract and was
frozen out by Frank Lampard before his departure.
West Ham also remain in talks with defender Vladimir Coufal over a new
contract but a resolution is yet to happen.
top