Last January, the Juventus fans were delighted with the arrival of Denis Zakaria. The club urgently needed a new midfielder, and apparently the Swiss was the right profile for the job.
Furthermore, the 25-year-old arrived at a reduced price as his contract with Borussia Monchengladbach was about to expire.
The midfielder had a memorable debut against Hellas Verona, putting his name on the scoreboard alongside fellow debutant Dusan Vlahovic.
Unfortunately, an injury derailed his momentum and he was never able to have a stable career as a starter in Max Allegri’s lineup.
Last summer, Juventus opted to sacrifice Zakaria to make room for new arrivals, hoping to record a profit from his eventual sale.
The Swiss international left Turin to join Chelsea on an initial loan deal just hours before the transfer market closed.
Zakaria spoke about his brief stint at Juventus and explained how the team’s style of play prevented him from showing his best attributes.
“It all happened very quickly. I didn’t know it was possible until six hours before the market ended,” the Chelsea man said in an interview with Blick via ilBianconero.
“I packed my bags and waited for the contracts to be signed. Then I had medical tests in Turin and everything went well.
“It’s hard to say what went wrong. Maybe it wasn’t my style of football. The team played very low, I didn’t have much space, whereas I am a player who needs a lot of space to run. The Premier League could be better for me.
“Allegri is a good person, I can say this with certainty. Maybe the team didn’t play very well, which is a shame.
“But with the squad they have, they can do much better. Juventus must always be at the top of the table and win 3-0 in all matches. Allegri has achieved great results, but I haven’t talked to him much.
“Tuchel was one of the reasons I joined Chelsea. He is a great coach. We haven’t had much time with him, but this is football, everything goes fast.”
