Chelsea may have shot themselves in foot by playing Denis Zakaria despite promising debut

Chelsea boss Graham Potter may have backed his side into a corner by handing peripheral figure Denis Zakaria his debut in the Champions League on Wednesday. The Switzerland international had been left out in the cold since signing on transfer deadline day but his first minutes in blue look to have decided his path for the season ahead. 

Zakaria was signed by former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel after various other midfield transfer targets fell by the wayside. Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong and Southampton’s Romeo Lavia were both reportedly explored but, when those moves came to nothing, the Blues turned to Juventus. 

Tuchel soon made way for Potter and Zakaria found himself way down in the pecking order in midfield. Chelsea already have a competitive midfield contingent including experienced heads such as N’Golo Kante and Jorginho, combined with hungry youngsters such as Conor Gallagher and Carney Chukwuemeka. 

As such, minutes have been hard to come by for Zakaria since arriving in west London. So much so, in fact, that Wednesday saw him feature for the first time and he crowned his debut with a first-half goal against Dinamo Zagreb.

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However, FIFA rules stipulate that individual players can play for a maximum of two teams per season. Zakaria played two games for Juve before he jumped ship on deadline day and, now that he has registered minutes for the Blues, sending him back to Turin so that they could find him a different loan destination appears to be off the cards. Furthermore, the Bianconeri are supposedly uninterested in welcoming him back early. 

That doesn’t bode well for Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly if he was eyeing up an opportunity to clear some space on the wage bill in January. However, the debut goal could provide Potter with food for thought and an extra trusted option to call on later in the season, with Zakaria seemingly going nowhere. 

“It was a good goal,” said Potter after the final whistle. “He has got that, we’ve seen that in training. He can finish and strike the ball well. He’s got physicality to deal with the game and he’s been working really hard, supporting his team, waiting for his chance and being patient. 

“I’m really pleased for him tonight that he got his goal, helped the team and played well.” Chelsea are believed to have paid just shy of £2.5million to take Zakaria on loan, while they have the option to make it permanent next summer for £24m.