Chelsea negotiate to sign flop for cut price

Tom Weber

• 28 Mar 2023 16:44 BST
• 3 min read

Chelsea are reportedly open to the possibility of renegotiating the terms of Denis Zakaria's loan deal.

The once-highly-rated Swiss international arrived at Stamford Bridge last summer after only playing in 15 games for Juventus the previous season.

His fortunes have not massively improved in London, however. Not favoured by Thomas Tuchel, the 26-year-old has only marginally featured under Graham Potter, though he did miss some time through injury as he had previously at Juventus.

READ: Why Nagelsmann replacing Potter at Chelsea makes perfect sense

But even when taking his injury into account his appearance numbers look less than impressive this season, playing just ten times for Chelsea in addition to his two outings with Juve.

Unsurprisingly, then, Chelsea are not prepared to pay the €28 million plus €5m in bonuses that would be required, as per the loan contract, to sign the former Borussia Mönchengladbach man permanently.

A new deal?

The Blues are, however, reportedly not averse to the idea of signing Zakaria for good, and they may try to convince Juventus to return to the negotiating table.

Indeed, as Gazzetta dello Sport reports, "a renegotiation could be a plausible hypothesis." It's not an outlandish idea seeing as though Atletico Madrid, for example, managed to cut the price to sign Barcelona's Antoine Griezmann permanently in half during a bout of renegotiations last year.

READ: Chelsea set for HUGE summer clear-out to meet FFP rules

If it were to materialise it could be a shrewd piece of business from Todd Boehly and company. When fit and playing in the right system, Zakaria has shown himself to be an adept holding midfielder - he was one of the Bundesliga's hottest commodities at one point for a reason.

In fact, if Chelsea could truly get him at a cut price he could prove to be a cheaper alternative to Declan Rice, with whom they have been repeatedly linked. Ultimately, everything depends on whether Graham Potter wants to use Zakaria and Juventus' willingness to renegotiate.