Denis Zakaria blown away by Chelsea outcast and makes admission over his future

Denis Zakaria has been blown away by Chelsea outcast Hakim Ziyech since arriving at Stamford Bridge and spoken out on his own future at the club after a difficult start.

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Chelsea signed Switzerland midfielder Zakaria on loan from Juventus over the summer and have an option to make his stay permanent at the end of the season.

Zakaria has not featured in any of Chelsea’s five games since his move to west London but remains desperate to force his way into Graham Potter’s plans and earn a permanent transfer to the Premier League side.

Asked if he hopes to convince Chelsea to make his loan deal permanent, Zakaria told The Athletic: ‘Of course. If you don’t do good, you don’t have the chance to stay.

‘Chelsea is a big club and if you’re not good enough, you can’t stay at this club. I am here to prove I deserve to be here, that I am a good player and I can help the team. We will see what happens at the end.’

Zakaria only joined Juventus at the start of the year in a £4m move from German club Borussia Monchengladbach.

The 25-year-old added: ‘I hope only the best for Juventus. I hope they can win the title in Italy and I would be very happy for that.

‘Juventus is a big, big club, like Chelsea. I learnt a lot there, with big, big players. And I can only be grateful for that because they gave me a lot of chances and everything.

‘I am a fan of Juventus and I follow Juventus, of course. But now I am a Chelsea player, so I’m focused here and I want to give my best to help the team. For me, I’m a new player, but I feel like I’ve been here one or two years already.

‘It was not an easy solution [to join Chelsea] but in the end, I am a player, I need also this challenge to be better.

‘For me, I am better when I take challenges. To change everything, like language, is not easy, but I think I can do it.’

Zakaria is not the only high-profile Chelsea star struggling for game-time, with Morocco international Ziyech starting just one game for the Blues this season.

Despite Ziyech’s recent struggles, Zakaria singled him out as someone who has impressed him in training, while he also heaped praise on injured Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante.

‘I never saw a left foot like it,’ he said of Ziyech. ‘Oof, it’s crazy.

‘Then there is N’Golo, he’s an amazing player. He’s a little bit back with the team now. We trained together. I can see the quality.

‘N’Golo, I think, is an inspiration for every midfield player. What he does is incredible, amazing. And I’m really happy to have the chance to play with him also, to learn from him, and I will take every minute to be better with him.

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‘But every player is really amazing in this team. I can say that here the quality of the players in training is one of the best I’ve seen. Of course, Juventus is also really good quality.

‘But here, at Chelsea, I have to say it is really an amazing-quality team. Also, you improve yourself in every training session. I came here to improve myself and that’s why I feel like it will be a good decision to come here.

‘It is not easy to be on the bench. Like every player, I want to play. But yes, we have to train hard and prove ourselves. In the end, when you have a chance to play, you must prove yourself in that moment.’

Zakaria will hope to get some game-time on Saturday when Chelsea, currently fifth in the Premier League, host Wolves.

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