Everton finalised the season-long loan of Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma on Friday, a day after the Premier League transfer window closed.
Multiple reports on deadline day said Everton had reached a deal for Zouma, but an announcement never came after the additions of Yerry Mina and Andre Gomes from Barcelona.
The deal sheet for the loan agreement was submitted to the Premier League before the 5 p.m. deadline on Thursday, giving Everton and Chelsea extra time to finalise the details.
An announcement was made on Friday, with the 23-year-old moving to Goodison Park after spending last season on loan at Stoke.
Zouma signed for Chelsea from Saint-Etienne for £12 million in January 2014, moving to Stamford Bridge six months later and establishing himself as a regular under Jose Mourinho until an ACL injury in Fabruary 2016 derailed his progress.
🇫🇷 | Defender @KurtZouma joins #EFC on a season-long loan from @ChelseaFC.
— Everton (@Everton) August 10, 2018
More ➡️ https://t.co/JdHLN6iDpN pic.twitter.com/IzIHxBTahN
It took 11 months for Zouma to get back onto the pitch for Chelsea and he failed to gain the trust of new coach Antonio Conte, making just 13 appearances over the remainder of the season.
He was loaned to Stoke the following summer and appeared in 34 Premier League games but could not prevent the Potters finishing with the joint-worst defensive record in the division and suffering relegation.
Zouma is the second Chelsea player to be loaned to a fellow Premier League club this summer after Kenedy joined Newcastle on a season-long loan.
Everton on Thursday also acquired winger Bernard on a free transfer, while defender Mina joined from Barcelona for an initial fee of £28m and midfielder Gomes arrived on loan.
"When you start to bring in some new players you want to strengthen the squad," coach Marco Silva said earlier on Friday. "Of course at his moment it looks stronger but we have to work with all of them and gel everything and put them in our way to adapt them as soon as possible."