David Moyes has confirmed that West Ham are closing in on a move for Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma.

Moyes made it clear that Zouma was a priority signing with the manager keen to add a fourth centre-back to his squad following the summer departure of Fabian Balbuena.

“We lost Fabian Balbuena last season and three centre-backs is not enough,” said Moyes.

“We have had an offer accepted from Chelsea for Kurt but I could not tell you if the medical has been completed yet.”

However, Zouma’s transfer from Chelsea to West Ham is reportedly hanging in the balance.

The £25.7million deal for the centre-back was understood to be close to completion with the respective managers of Chelsea and West Ham both confirming a bid had been accepted and a medical was taking place.

Speaking ahead of the weekend’s action Blues boss Thomas Tuchel said Zouma was in France and in talks with West Ham over his transfer:

“There are negotiations between West Ham and Chelsea about Kurt,” Tuchel said.

“Kurt right now is not with us, not because of these negotiations but because he has some personal issues to solve and we allowed him to travel to France. This isn’t the reason he’s not with us in the squad.

“There are negotiations right now but, to be honest, I don’t know where it leads to right now. We have to wait. Both things can happen that he stays or not.”

David Moyes went further than his Chelsea counterpart, admitting that a medical was taking place but added he was unaware of the outcome.

According to football.london, Zouma has managed an issue with his knee for a number of seasons through an individual training programme and it is this long-term complaint that is holding the deal up.