Chelsea are currently in discussions to terminate Denis Zakaria’s loan in January.
What’s the word?
That is according to journalist Simon Phillips who has informed GIVEMESPORT of his understanding surrounding the nightmare scenario for the player who has not played a single minute for the Blues.
Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Phillips said: “He’s not really shown enough match fitness yet to get any game time. But as well as that, discussions are taking place right now at Chelsea regarding terminating his loan move in January, so this would suggest it is not going to plan right now.”
“Came for a tour”
The conundrum surrounding Zakaria at Chelsea is a strange one.
Zakaria endured downfall at Juventus, and as a result of being left infuriated by the whole debacle in Turin, the 25-year-old took the plunge of moving on loan to the Premier League in a bid for regular game time under then-Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel.
Of course, a lot has changed since then.
Tuchel was sacked promptly after Zakaria’s summer arrival, with Graham Potter clearly not impressed with what he sees in training as Zakaria is yet to play a single minute in a Blues shirt.
Excelling during his time at Borussia Monchengladbach, the Switzerland international clearly has the ability to shine as a defensive-minded midfielder in the centre of the park.
His average of around 21.97 touches in the defensive third and penalty area from a total of 51.74 touches per game is demonstrative of this, and represents the area in which he shines most; in the defensive part of the game.
With Potter’s appreciation and subsequent use of the 3-4-2-1 formation, it is rather surprising that Zakaria – the £30million star who “came for a tour”, as per Kwame Benaiah on Twitter – has not been granted a chance under the English boss, with his metrics suggesting that he would function well in a two-man midfield.
Looking at this with N’Golo Kante’s absence in mind, the Blues could majorly benefit from including someone like Zakaria into the first XI but are clearly adamant that it is not to be the case, with the latest claims suggesting that a return to Turin is on the cards for Zakaria, with Juventus surely not content with their midfield asset depreciating in value.
