26-year-old Chelsea player’s time at Stamford Bridge has been a complete waste – opinion

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Chelsea are one of the best represented teams at this winter’s World Cup.

Players such as Christian Pulisic, Hakim Ziyech and Thiago Silva have been impressing greatly for their nations as the first two sets of group matches have concluded.

However, one Chelsea player has not enjoyed a single minute of World Cup football, despite making 43 appearances for his country.

Denis Zakaria has been forced to watch Switzerland’s matches against Cameroon and Brazil from the bench, despite making the loan move to Stamford Bridge in the summer in an attempt to revive his career.

However, he has almost spent as little time playing at the World Cup as he has at Chelsea.

Zakaria wasting time at Chelsea

Only twice all season has the 26-year-old been handed an appearance for the Blues, with neither coming in the Premier League.

In his debut match in the Champions League, he put in a contender for player of the match against Dinamo Zagreb, marking the appearance with the goal that completed the turnaround in a 2-1 win.

While his second display was not as impressive against Manchester City, he has certainly showed signs that he can bring something to the Chelsea midfield.

However, being dropped out of consideration for a start for his national team is just a sign of how underwhelming his time at the London club has been.

It’s impossible to not draw comparisons to Saul Niguez’s spell at the club last season. After hardly appearing for the Blues under Thomas Tuchel, he is now nowhere near the Spain national team that are making waves at this tournament.

With the fixture pile-up set to continue after Christmas, Graham Potter could be needing to call on the Swiss international more in the second half of the season in order to maintain freshness in the midfield.