Denis Zakaria not part of Mauricio Pochettino’s plans at Chelsea

• Chelsea are releasing Swiss midfielder Denis Zakaria back to his parent club Juventus this summer transfer window
• Zakaria arrived at Stamford Bridge last summer on deadline day after Chelsea were forced into the transfer market following N’Golo Kante’s injury

Chelsea are releasing Swiss midfielder Denis Zakaria back to his parent club Juventus this summer transfer window.

According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Zakaria is not part of Mauricio Pochettino’s plans at Chelsea next season. His fate has been decided, just like that of Portuguese forward Joao Felix, who will return to his parent club Atletico Madrid this summer.

Denis Zakaria will return to Juventus this summer after the end of his loan period. Photo/ Football.London.

Denis Zakaria arrived at Stamford Bridge last summer on deadline day after Chelsea were forced into the transfer market following N’Golo Kante’s injury. The Swiss midfielder showed some flashes of promise, impressing in games against Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League and against Premier League champions Manchester City.

However, he has struggled to impress under four different managers Chelsea has had in the Tod Boehly’s era. Pochettino feels the same way about Zakaria as his predecessors Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Bruno Saltor and Frank Lampard.

Zakaria played only seven games in the English Premier League, two in the UEFA Champions League and two in cup competitions. In total, the Swiss defensive midfielder played just 11 games for the Blues in the second half of the 2022-23 season.

Zakaria joined Chelsea on loan seven months after his arrival at Juventus for a fee of around 7.5 million Euros. He had six months left on his contract with Borussia Monchengladbach when he arrived in Turin.

His Chelsea loan deal had an option of permanent transfer but the Blues will not be triggering their buy clause. They would have paid 30 million Euros for his transfer but instead the 26-year-old will be returning to Juventus.

Denis Zakaria is one of the many players expected to leave Chelsea this summer. With no European football next season, Mauricio Pochettino will need to trim his heavily bloated squad this summer.

As mentioned above, Joao Felix is not part of Mauricio Pochettino’s plans for next season and he will also return to his parent club. Felix displayed a few decent performances but failed to justify his hype in the Premier League as one of the best young players in the world.

Hakim Ziyech, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Christian Pulisic, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Edouard Mendy will leave before the end of this summer transfer window.

Kalidou Koulibaly, N’Golo Kante and Cesar Azpilicueta could also be on their way out of the club. Fabrizio reports that talks were very advanced between for Kante to renew his contract in the last months. However, the situation in unclear again and more clubs are keen on signing the Frenchman as a free agent.

N’Golo Kante’s contract extension is not done yet. Photo/ Daily Express.

According to Fabrizio, AC Milan are close on agreeing terms with Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Direct contact between the two parties started two weeks ago.