Denis Zakaria admits he ‘knew nothing’ about the Chelsea move until six hours before the transfer deadline, but admits he’s happier now. ‘Juventus didn’t play that well. Maybe the style of football wasn’t suited to me.’
The Switzerland international only joined the Bianconeri from Borussia Monchengladbach for €8.6m in January 2022, but a mad rush including medical tests in Turin eventually saw him transfer to Chelsea on loan for €3m with option to buy for a further €28m plus €5m in add-ons.
“It all happened very quickly. I didn’t know a move to Chelsea was possible until six hours before the end of the transfer window,” Zakaria told Blick in Switzerland while on international duty.
He also confirmed there was some truth to the rumours that Liverpool were also interested in his signature on deadline day, before going for Arthur Melo instead.
“I heard that from my agent, but in the end it was Chelsea. I think I’ll be happier in England than in Turin.”
Juventus have gone into free-fall this season, winning only two out of their nine competitive matches, losing to Serie A newcomers Monza and sitting bottom of their Champions League group with two defeats.
Zakaria made only 15 official appearances in the Bianconeri jersey, contributing one goal and one assist.
Like Matthijs de Ligt following the move to Bayern Munich, Zakaria also is not kind to coach Max Allegri.
“It’s difficult to say what went wrong, maybe the style of football wasn’t suited to me. The team sat very deep, so I didn’t have much space. I’m a player who needs a lot of space for my runs. It might suit me better in England.
“Allegri is a good person, I can say that for sure. Maybe the team didn’t play that well, which is a shame, as with the talent in that squad, they can do much better.”
He deserves another chance as the 7/9 truly shafted him. Flinstone Max was never keen on him as he has legs, can track back but dared to go beyond the half way line. Under Hiroshima nightmares aka PhD Max, venturing forward shall get you booked straight into the zombie ritiro. There awaits Roberto Carlos Sandro to issue the back, back, down, down.
He’s simply stating what everyone knows already accept Agnelli who is too blind to see.
After De Light now Zakaria taking a swipe at Lord Hexagon… how can they doubt his coma calcio philosphy!?
The worst part is Allegri is even ruining defenders. You would think that this would be his wheel house considering thats all he knows. Bremer looks shaky and it could turn into another De Ligt.
he speaks the truth
@Lord Allegri what is the 7/9
Yes and how do you know that my sweet Zakaria before having played even one minute of football for Chelsea? What happens if you end up spending lots of time on the bench, will you still be ‘happier’?
@sacci it mean 7 failure out of 9 champions league finals
Forza Allegri ALL the Way 🙂