Chelsea are interested in permanently signing 26-year-old defensive midfielder Denis Zakaria in a part-exchange deal with Juventus.
According to a report by Calciomercatoweb, Chelsea are interested in permanently signing Denis Zakaria in the summer. The Blues are looking for a new midfielder and could consider keeping the 26-year-old Juventus player in their ranks beyond his loan spell.
Zakaria came into the limelight while playing for Borussia Monchengladbach. His performances attracted the attention of Juventus who decided to sign him in the winter window of last season. The 26-year-old featured in 15 outings for the Old Lady before being loaned out for a year ahead of the ongoing season.
Chelsea where keen on having a bit more depth in their midfield and decided to loan him in. However, he hasn’t been that useful for the club throughout the ongoing season. Zakaria has featured in just ten matches for the Blues and has been on the pitch for just over 500 minutes.
The Swiss international has not had enough opportunities for the London club. And, the initial thought was that he would return to his parent club. However, as per recent reports, the Blues could push to have him at the club beyond his loan spell.
Chelsea do have a buy-option in his loan contract, but they are not willing to trigger it. They are looking for some sort of discount on the deal having already spent a fortune on acquiring new players.
Juventus are looking for a potential replacement for Adrien Rabiot whose contract ends in the summer. The French star midfielder is expected to part ways with the club ahead of next season. And, the Old Lady are in desperate need of a new central midfielder and the Blues can offer them a solution in Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
The Blues are looking to offer the 27-year-old to Juventus in return for Zakaria. While it sounds like a straightforward exchange deal, it is a lot more complicated in reality. The deal will depend on the departure of Rabiot as well as the Old Lady’s willingness to replace him with Loftus-Cheek. As a result, it will be interesting to see if this goes through.
