Chelsea’s deadline day signing Denis Zakaria has claimed his agent told him that Liverpool were interested in securing his signature before he put pen to paper with the Blues.
It was common knowledge that the Merseyside club were keen on bringing in a midfielder in the last transfer window, and throughout the summer they were linked with a whole host of names, with the most intense speculation reserved for the futures of Dortmund’s Jude Belingham and the former Sporting man Matheus Nunes.
In the end, the Reds ended up bringing in Arthur Melo from Juventus on a 1 year loan deal, but the Brazilian is yet to show any kind of spark in a Liverpool shirt.
However, Chelsea’s new midfielder has revealed that Jurgen Klopp actually held interest in bringing in the 25 year-old.
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“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 said to the Swiss news outlet, Blick.
“I packed my things and waited for the contract to be signed. I then did the medical check in Turin and it went through. It was very close.”
Speaking on Liverpool's interest in him, Zakaria stated: “I heard that from my agent, but in the end it was Chelsea, and I think I’ll be happier in England than in Turin.”
Zakaria’s loan move to the West London side was the final signing of Chelsea’s extremely busy summer that saw them have the most expensive transfer window of all time, where they spent over £250 million on incomings.
Their new owner, Todd Boehly, showed serious ambition by bringing in the likes of Marc Cucurella, Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly, just to name a few.
However, it remains to be seen whether their new manager Graham Potter is able to find a way to get the most out of Denis Zakaria and the rest of the Blues’ summer signings.
Ben King