‘At this stage’: 26-year-old is now unlikely to be a Chelsea player next season – journalist

Journalist Florian Plettenberg has claimed that Chelsea are currently unlikely to activate the buy option in Denis Zakaria’s loan.

The Switzerland international had struggled originally for minutes at Stamford Bridge in the lead up to the World Cup.

However, he established himself as one of the bright sparks in the early weeks of 2023, as the club endured their worst spell for some time.

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Injury set him back a bit recently, and now he faces the battle of breaking into a rare winning team at Stamford Bridge.

Mateo Kovacic and January signing Enzo Fernandez have currently been locking down the midfield recently, starting all three of their wins in recent weeks.

While Zakaria has frequently been seen from the bench, a start looks difficult to come by right now for the 26-year-old. This could play into Plettenberg’s report that the club are not currently looking to make Zakaria’s stay at Stamford Bridge permanent.

Zakaria not likely to join permanently

He said: “News on Zakaria: At this stage he is likely to leave Chelsea at the end of this season. Been told the club tendency’s is not to use the option to buy.

“Therefore he could return to Juventus. But Chelsea is looking for a new No. 6! One of the top priorities.”

A new signing is likely to be with the intention of finding a long-term partner to Fernandez.

Reports have claimed that they may be looking close to home when deciding on the most suitable target.

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They have been strongly linked with the signing of Moises Caicedo from Brighton, spanning back to their January interest.

Despite him recently signing a new contract with the Seagulls, their reported interest has not faded.

Other options from the Premier League include Caicedo’s teammate Alexis Mac Allister, as well as Southampton’s impressive youngster Romeo Lavia.

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