Premier League club Chelsea are not interested in signing 26-year-old midfielder Denis Zakaria on a permanent basis.
According to Florian Plettenberg, Chelsea do not want to sign Denis Zakaria on a permanent basis. The 26-year-old is currently on loan at the Blues. But the west London club are not keen on extending his stay. He is likely to return to his parent club Juventus ahead of next season.
Zakaria came into the limelight while playing for Borussia Monchengladbach a few years back. His performances attracted the attention of Juventus, who brought him to the club in the winter of 2022. However, initially, things did not work out that well for the 26-year-old in Turin. And in six months’ time, he was loaned out to Chelsea.
The Swiss midfielder has been a part of Chelsea since the start of the season, but he has only featured in a total of 12 matches. The former Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder has been on the pitch for just 647 minutes.
Zakaria has failed to deliver in the limited opportunities that he has had. And, he is not a part of the Blues’ long-term plan. While the 26-year-old is a quality player, limited game time and injuries have not helped his cause.
News #Zakaria: At this stage he is likely to leave Chelsea at the the end of this season. Been told the club tendency’s is not to use the option to buy. Therefore he could return to Juventus.
But: #CFC is looking for a new No. 6! One of the top priorities. @SkySportDE 🇨🇭 pic.twitter.com/rWnJSoJuUg
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) March 16, 2023
Meanwhile, Chelsea have signed a lot of players in the past few windows, and they will be looking to offload quite a few in the summer. They have recently shown interest in Franck Kessie. As a result, it makes sense for them to not sign a player who has been on loan but has not had the impact that was expected.
The Blues signed him on a year-long loan with an option to buy. But, as things stand they are not at all interested in extending his stay at the club. Chelsea will not trigger the buy option and Zakaria will return to Juventus ahead of next season.
Meanwhile, the Blues are looking for a new number six. Signing a new defensive midfielder is their priority, but that won’t be Zakaria as things stand. The 26-year-old has failed to impress the people at the club. As a result, he won’t be staying at Stamford Bridge beyond this season.
However, it will be interesting to see which number six Chelsea pushes for in the summer. And, the players that are offloaded ahead of next season.
