Chelsea want €50m Edson Alvarez in January despite Zakaria loan

James Shearman

• Updated: 2 Sep 2022 13:38 CDT
• 3 min read

Chelsea lined up Ajax's Edson Alvarez as the answer to their defensive midfield problem, but had to settle for Juventus' Denis Zakaria instead.

The Blues made a €50 million bid, according to reports, as well as offering Alvarez a significant pay rise.

But Ajax were not interested in letting the Mexico international leave the club, having already lost the likes of Sebastien Haller, Lisandro Martinez, Ryan Gravenberch and Antony this summer.

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However, according to dutch journalist Mike Verweij, a deal could be agreed in the coming days for a January move.

It is possible that Ajax would have accepted Chelsea's offer had it not been for the high turnover for their first-team squad.

And by pushing the date of the transfer back to January, the Eredivisie club are then afforded the time to identify a replacement.

Zakaria joins Chelsea on loan

Having failed to sign Alvarez, Chelsea completed the deadline day loan signing of Denis Zakaria from Juventus.

The Blues will pay a fee of €3m for the initial loan period, plus an additional €1m in add-ons.

At the end of the season, Chelsea will then have the option to make the loan move permanent for a fee of €28m plus €5m in add-ons.

Zakaria only joined Juventus from Borussia Monchengladbach back in January, but he hasn’t found the form that earned him the move.

The 25-year-old will be hoping to revive his career at Stamford Bridge under the guidance of Thomas Tuchel and spur the Blues on after a difficult start to the campaign for them.

As for Juve, they have strengthened their midfield in this summer's transfer window with the additions of Paul Pogba and Leandro Paredes.