Chelsea and Manchester United are reportedly set to lock horns in the race to sign Denis Zakaria, who is also a target for Bayern Munich.
According to the reliable German journalist Christian Falk, Denis Zakaria is the subject of interest from Chelsea and Manchester United. The Premier League heavyweights, though, will have to vie with Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, who have the Swiss midfielder on their transfer list.
United and Chelsea have a new transfer rival: FC Bayern also has Denis Zakaria on their list @ManUtd @ChelseaFC @FCBayern
— Christian Falk (@cfbayern) October 21, 2020
Zakaria joined Borussia Monchengladbach from BSC Young Boys in the summer of 2017. Since then the 23-year-old has progressed considerably to now become a mainstay in midfield for the Bundesliga outfit.
Indeed, last season, Zakaria played each and every game when fit and available before his campaign was derailed by a knee injury. The Swiss international is still on the sidelines, but his stock has not gone down in this period. In fact, he is being tailed by a number of top clubs in Europe, chief among those being Chelsea and Manchester United.
Chelsea had been in the market for a defensive midfielder this past summer, even though Frank Lampard has N’Golo Kante and Jorginho at his disposal. While Jorginho was linked with a summer exit when the transfer window opened, but the Italian international ended up remaining at Chelsea.
As for their target, the Blues had been eager to sign Declan Rice before a move failed to materialise. Now, though, Chelsea have set their sights on Zakaria, who is also the subject of interest from rivals Manchester United.
The interest from Manchester United makes sense, seeing as Nemanja Matic is on the wrong side of 30. While the Red Devils rightly handed him a new deal following a fantastic 2019/20 campaign, it is clear that the Serb is entering the twilight of his career. Matic’s alternative within the Manchester United squad are Fred and Scott McTominay.
However, Zakaria has the potential to be an upgrade on both players while also filling in at centre-back, if required. It is, therefore, clear why Manchester United are after him. United and Chelsea, though, also face stiff competition from Bayern Munich in pursuit of the Swiss midfielder, with the Bundesliga champions showing a keen interest.
It is unclear if any of the three clubs are serious with their interest in Zakaria just yet and it remains to be seen if Chelsea, Manchester United or Bayern Munich launch the offensive for him. For now, it looks like the youngster is attracting interest from the bigwigs of Europe.
