West Ham United are apparently in discussions with Juventus to recruit ex-Chelsea midfielder Denis Zakaria, but there is a major stumbling block. According to Gazzetta dello Sport, West Ham want to recruit Denis Zakaria but are unwilling to pay the €20 million (£17 million) asking price set by Juventus for the previous Chelsea loanee.
Over the past several weeks, the East London club has been widely connected with a bid to recruit the former Chelsea star. It seems sense that Hammers manager David Moyes would want to recruit a successor for Declan Rice to the London Stadium.
Zakaria, in my opinion, would be a great addition to the Scot’s team. And it appears like the 60-year-old is making a genuine effort to reintegrate him into the Premier League. Zakaria joined Chelsea on loan in September of last year, barely seven months after moving from Borussia Monchengladbach to Juventus. The Swiss international struggled to have an effect in the Premier League, though.
He only made seven Premier League matches and 11 total for Chelsea towards the end of his loan period. He played all ninety minutes for the Blues just once. The 26-year-old is now forced to start looking for a new club as a result. Interesting news: West Ham are ‘interested’ in Zakaria, according to the Italian source.
West Ham Will Be In Need Of Midfielders After Rice’s Departure
West Ham’s interest in Zakaria has been rumored while they are receiving interest in their own midfielder, Declan Rice. Arsenal and Manchester City are now competing to capture the Hammers skipper. The next year, Rice, a former Chelsea junior player, may take part in one of them in the Champions League.
West Ham, who won the Conference League and qualified for the Europa League, would need to find a way to fill the void Rice would leave in their midst if Rice is sold to the highest bidder as is expected. A former coach of the BSC Young Boys, described him as a fantastic player with excellent technical skill.
Because Zakaria can play as a holding midfielder or as a No. 8, he could be able to fill in some of Rice’s strengths from the past six seasons. Flynn Downes, Lucas Paqueta, and Tomas Soucek are the three midfielders that are presently on the West Ham roster. As a consequence, it will be a sector to invest in if they lose Rice.
Following their victory against Fiorentina in the Conference League final, club chairman David Sullivan speculated that Rice had just played his last game for the group. Many Hammers supporters would also think that paying £17 million for Denis Zakaria would be excellent value for West Ham.
Despite the fact that he didn’t get much playing time at Chelsea. But still David Moyes shouldn’t think twice about bringing him back to the London Stadium from Italy for that kind of money.
