Once Mauricio Pochettino has got his feet under the table at Cobham training ground, his first job as the new Chelsea manager should be to activate the option-to-buy clause in Denis Zakaria's contract.
The 26-year-old midfielder joined the Blues on loan from Juventus in January and, despite having impressed when called upon, he's been starved of first-team opportunities. Zakaria has featured just 13 times for Chelsea across all competitions, averaging just 55 minutes an appearance.
When the west Londoners were in need of a live-wire in midfield, he stepped up to the plate – though that was under Graham Potter. Since Frank Lampard was appointed as caretaker manager, the Switzerland international has played just once and, bizarrely, he's also been omitted from the matchday squad on seven occasions.
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While the 44-year-old may be prioritising players non-loanees until the end of his tenure, Chelsea have an option-to-buy clause – which is thought to be around £26million – in Zakaria's deal. Not only that, N'Golo Kante is set to leave next month once his contract expires, while Mateo Kovacic, Mason Mount and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have been heavily linked with exits.
By exiling the Swiss from the Blues setup, Lampard has missed out on a great opportunity to give the west Londoners a better understanding as to whether or not it'd be worth making the midfielder's deal permanent. While there is only a small sample size of Zakaria, Pochettino has been shown enough to justify activating the clause.
With numerous players expected to leave Stamford Bridge this summer, Chelsea can quickly get Juventus star on their books before pursuing moves for the big-money targets. Yes, it would be a risk but Zakaria seems to already have a great understanding of what the fanbase wants – and his performances proved that too.
In April, following the defeat to Brighton, he sent supporters a message and vowed to improve. After being left out of the squad to face Newcastle on the final day of the Premier League campaign, Zakaria might never play for Chelsea again.
"It wasn’t enough, we were bad," said Zakaria. "We have to do way better. What was said stays between the coach, the owners and the team.
"Yes, I think it is good [that Lampard is honest] because we need more. We are not good. It is tough. It is difficult and we feel bad for the fans because we cannot play like that. It is tough and we have to do better. It is hard."
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