Chelsea to cut Denis Zakaria loan short in January?

Chelsea could reportedly cut the loan deal of Juventus midfielder Denis Zakaria short in January.

The former Borussia Monchengladbach man was a late arrival at Stamford Bridge in the summer transfer window and did not earn a single minute under Thomas Tuchel.

Following the German's sacking, it was a similar story for Zakaria under the tutelage of Graham Potter, who only handed the Switzerland international his first minutes earlier this week.

With Chelsea already through to the knockout stages of the Champions League as group winners, Zakaria made his long-awaited debut for Chelsea at home to Dinamo Zagreb.

The 25-year-old capped his first game in blue with the winning goal in a 2-1 success, which came after he had been an unused substitute for nine successive matches in all tournaments.

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As things stand, Zakaria is due to remain at Stamford Bridge until the end of the campaign, and the Blues can then trigger an option to make his stay permanent for €28m (£24.3m) in the summer.

However, Calciomercato claims that Potter's side are prepared to cut their losses and send Zakaria back to Juventus midway through the season amid his struggles for game time.

The report adds that Zakaria's long-term future is still uncertain, though, as Juve head coach Massimiliano Allegri does not view him as a part of his plans moving forward.

Zakaria only joined the Old Lady from Monchengladbach in the January transfer window, with the German club receiving a cut-price fee before he left as a free agent.

The Swiss midfielder is still contracted to the Turin club until the summer of 2026, but Potter has been impressed at the way that he has handled the disappointment of not playing in recent weeks.

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"Before the game I told him to be himself and I thought he did that well. He showed his quality, won the ball back, helped with our attacking play. Obviously to score was fantastic, you saw the quality that he has," Potter told the press following his side's win over Dinamo Zagreb.

"We see it in training as well, he can hit the ball. So I think it was a nice goal for him, a nice goal for the team. It was an important goal for us, so I'm happy for him that he contributed to the team performance and also to score. It's nice.

'As you would imagine, he's been frustrated and disappointed when he isn't playing. That's the life of a player, but he's handled himself really well. He's kept himself fit, trained really hard, supported the team, supported his teammates in a really good way.

'When you do that you give yourself a chance to perform when you're given an opportunity at this club. So credit to him and you could see everyone was so happy for him. It's great for him, it's a great story for the whole group I think."

Zakaria will now hope to earn his Premier League debut for the Blues when they welcome league leaders Arsenal to Stamford Bridge on Sunday lunchtime.