Chelsea manager Graham Potter insists that he is yet to make any decision on the future of summer signing Denis Zakaria, who has not made a single appearance for the club since joining from Juventus in the transfer window.
Graham Potter Hasn’t Made Decision on Denis Zakaria’s Future
Graham Potter on Denis Zakaria: “No decision has been made. Denis has been training well, ready to help the team”. 🚨🔵 #CFC
“There is no talk of anything. He's an important member of the team, he's been patient and waiting for his chance”. pic.twitter.com/gpH0LfAfiT
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 18, 2022
Potter Gives Update on Zakaria’s Situation
With the Switzerland midfielder yet to play a single minute of football for the London side, a lot of questions are mounting on why he was signed and whether he has any future at the club. Potter dealt with this question very smartly, insisting that Zakaria is ‘an important part’ of his team.
He said: “No decision has been made. Denis has been training well, ready to help the team. There is no talk of anything. He’s an important member of the team, he’s been patient and waiting for his chance.”
The bit about the ‘decision on his future’ is probably to answer the questions on whether Chelsea are really looking to terminate his loan in January and try to send him back to the Italian side in the winter transfer window.
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It appears that Zakaria might as well spend the entirety of his loan spell at Stamford Bridge. However, he’ll have to work extremely hard and perform at a very high level to win over Potter – who wasn’t really the one who brought him to the club – with his predecessor Thomas Tuchel having been sacked from his role.
Zakaria’s Career So Far Recapped
The 25-year-old midfielder arrived at Stamford Bridge in the summer to add more options to Chelsea’s midfield but has seen the likes of Conor Gallagher and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have both been played ahead of him. He was reportedly in the plans of Tuchel, who was impressed by his work at Borussia Monchengladbach and Juventus in the past, but the Swiss midfielder is yet to win over Potter.
Read More: Analysing Graham Potter’s First Five Games as Chelsea Manager
Zakaria has made over 230 appearances in his career, scoring 16 goals during that time. He was once hailed as ‘an absolute machine’ by Adam Owen – his coach at FC Servette (where he made his breakthrough) and compared to Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira. But now, the 25-year-old probably needs to start playing like Vieira in order to make his Chelsea debut and make his loan spell worthwhile.
