Report: Chelsea to hold ‘crunch talks’ with ‘frustrated’ 25-year-old star after lack of playing time

Chelsea to hold crunch talks with Denis Zakaria over his future with cutting loan spell a possibility

According to the Evening Standard, Chelsea are to hold crunch talks with midfielder Denis Zakaria over his future, with a possibility that his loan deal could be cut short.

The 25-year-old is frustrated at the lack of action he is getting on the pitch and is set to talk with manager Graham Potter and co-owner Todd Boehly this week to get more clarity about his future.

Talks can lead to the Swiss international getting his loan spell cut short in January unless he gets the assurance of getting a good amount of game time this season.

Zakaria’s arrival was a surprising one on the deadline day of the summer transfer window from Juventus. He is yet to play a single minute of football, either previously under Thomas Tuchel or now under Potter.

Chelsea are already in a situation where two of their key midfielders are in the final 12 months of their contract – Jorginho and N’Golo Kante. Neither of them has signed an extension yet and would be open to talking to foreign clubs from January 1 onwards.

Although a midfield revamp will be required irrespective of the future of the duo, it feels as if Zakaria is not a part of that. So, moving back to Juventus would suit the Swiss international as Potter has looked past him so far in terms of giving game time to players in midfield.

This is not a slouch at the former Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder though, who is a quality player, but perhaps has come to a club where managers who do not fancy him.

More Chelsea News:

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• Paul Robinson tells Spurs that selling Chelsea target Harry Kane for £88m would be good business
• Romano: Serious chances that N’Golo Kante could leave Chelsea for free next summer

For Chelsea, there is no point in keeping a player on loan if game time is not guaranteed. Better to offload him off the wage bill and look for options to revamp the midfield, either in January or during the next summer transfer window.