West Ham United target Chelsea cast-off Denis Zakaria as Declan Rice replacement amid ‘difficult’ update on £135m duo
Denis Zakaria is now on the West Ham list of targets as they look to replace exit-bound captain Declan Rice because Joao Palhinha and Edson Alvarez appear out of reach, the Daily Mail reports.
Fabrizio Romano first reported interest in the Swiss international, who is unwanted at Juventus, via Twitter on Thursday (22 June), noting that a number of sides are in the frame.
It is now claimed the Hammers have found it necessary to turn their attentions to the former Chelsea loanee after the other two of their preferred targets have proven to be “difficult to achieve”.
Fulham are reportedly demanding as much as £90million for Palhinha [Mail, 20 June], while Alavarez, who himself was a Stamford Bridge target last season before they settled on Zakaria [Mail, 1 September], is set to cost £45million [Guardian, 9 June] and is lined up to replace Jude Bellingham at Borussia Dortmund.
Zakaria, 26, would likely be a considerably cheaper alternative with Juve needing to get unwanted players off the books in the wake of their “false accounting” scandal [Guardian, 22 May].
Chelsea had a permanent option to sign Zakaria but after using him sparingly last season deemed him surplus to requirements.
Hidden gem?
It is going to be tough to fully replace Rice with a single player this summer, and certainly without spending the lion’s share of whatever fee West Ham eventually bank for him.
And while it is an easy mistake to make signing multiple cheap options with a massive windfall when only the same amount of players can be fit into a side at once, Zakaria might be a sensible signing regardless.
Even if the star skipper were to stay this summer David Moyes would surely need to do some work on his central midfield, and with Juventus needing to shift him he is certainly available in a way that the likes of Palhinha apparently aren’t.
Despite Chelsea’s considerable struggles over the past season Zakaria largely acquitted himself at Stamford Bridge, and can probably count himself slightly unlucky to have only featured 11 times in all competitions.
The opportunity to feature on a more regular basis in the middle of the Irons side could be attractive to him after a year and a half of change and irregular first-team football following his move from Borussia Monchengladbach the season before last.
He’s clearly no like-for-like Rice replacement, but could be a solid addition to the side either way while possibly leaving plenty of cash left over to add a second option at the position.