Thomas Tuchel reveals how Denis Zakaria will be used at Chelsea
Karan Tejwani
- Updated: 3 Sept 2022 16:21 BST
- 3 min read
Chelsea completed the loan signing of Denis Zakaria from Juventus on deadline day, and Thomas Tuchel has revealed what role he’ll have in the Blues set-up this season.
Tuchel’s side were in the market for a midfielder in the final days of the window and target the Eredivisie duo of PSV’s Ibrahim Sangare and Ajax’s Edson Alvarez.
Neither move materialized, despite Alavarez saying he wanted to leave the club, and that forced Chelsea to make a move for Zakaria, who they got on a temporary basis.
There have been some comparisons to Chelsea’s loan move for Saul Niguez from last summer, but Tuchel has rubbished some of those claim, indicating where Zakaria will be deployed.
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The German said: “There's always a risk in everything and in every last minute deal. This was an option that came in very late. It was related maybe not to the numbers that we should have in midfield but actually have in midfield.”
“He can play in a back three. He played for Monchengladbach in a back four as a central defender even, he can play in a back three as a defender. He can play both positions in midfield.
Tuchel also praised Zakaria’s physicality and added it was an attribute Chelsea needed, as their injury troubles could cause them problems.
📸#ZakariaIsChelsea pic.twitter.com/E59T2BaCoo
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 2, 2022
The Champions League winner also surprisingly suggested Zakaria’s attributes could result in him playing as a wing-back at some point later on in the season.
“This was maybe a last minute or last days option. That was kind of on top of what was needed. He gives us in my opinion a lot of options because he has a lot of speed, height and physicality to bring to this group.
“He can play at even wing-back because he is fast enough and has the volume so I think giving the risks that you mentioned with Saul, he has a bit more positions to play in and a bit more of a physical profile hopefully.”
Chelsea have only loaned Zakaria for this season but have the option to make the move permanent at the end of the loan period next summer.
