Juventus could offer loanee Denis Zakaria permanently to Chelsea in exchange for experienced midfielder Mateo Kovacic, according to Calciomercatoweb.
Zakaria, who had an underwhelming start to his loan spell at Chelsea, showed that he could adapt to Premier League football as he started playing regularly for the Blues in January.
His good run of games, unfortunately, ended after he sustained an injury, which has kept him out for the last month.
The option to sign the 26-year-old permanently, which arguably looked silly at the start of the season, now looks more and more appealing.
Calciomercatoweb claims that Juventus are aware of Chelsea’s interest in signing Zakaria permanently and see this as an opportunity to help manager Massimiliano Allegri revamp his midfield.
The Italian club are said to be eyeing a potential swap deal for Kovacic.
According to a recent report from The Guardian, the Croatia international is among the six players Chelsea are looking to sell in the summer.
If the report is true, then the possible swap deal could be a win-win situation for both clubs.
The question then would be how much would Chelsea want for Kovacic?
Chelsea reportedly have the option to buy Zakaria for €30million (close to £27m), so depending on Kovacic’s valuation, either club might have to add money to the deal.
Obviously, Chelsea could also just trigger the buy option in Zakaria’s loan deal and find another suitor for Kovacic.
However, Kovacic’s deal at Chelsea expires in less than 18 months, and he has been struggling with injuries in recent seasons.
So, it remains unclear whether Chelsea could recoup the £40m they paid Real Madrid for the 28-year-old in 2019.
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