Chelsea have confirmed Denis Zakaria will wear the No.20 jersey for the 2022/23 season after Callum Hudson-Odoi vacated the number following his loan departure.
Zakaria's loan move includes a buy option in the region of a £30million fee should they wish to make the Swiss international's spell at Stamford Bridge permanent next summer. Chelsea have suffered a number of injuries to their midfield options and a deal for Zakaria has now eased Thomas Tuchel's selection headache ahead of a busy period of fixtures.
The 25-year-old will have to wait to make his Premier League debut for the Blues, as Tuchel detailed during his press conference, due to him not being granted a work permit in time for the game against West Ham. Hudson-Odoi's future at Stamford Bridge may be in doubt now after Zakaria took his vacated No.20 jersey after the English winger moved to Bayer Leverkusen on-loan.
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After the club confirmed squad numbers for new signings Wesley Fofana, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Zakaria, questions have been raised over what it means for Hudson-Odoi with the central midfielder taking the No.20. The young forward may find himself in a similar position to Romelu Lukaku next summer after Aubameyang was handed the No.9 shirt left by the Belgian following his return to Inter Milan on-loan.
The decision to hand the Gabonese striker the No.9 jersey surely means the Blues will look to sell on Lukaku after a poor season under Tuchel following his club record transfer return last summer. However, with Zakaria only moving on-loan to Stamford Bridge there is the possibility that his spell with Chelsea will only last the one season, returning to Juventus next term if the Blues decide against signing him permanently for £30million.
Hudson-Odoi was close to joining Bayern Munich a few seasons ago but opted to stay with the west Londoners after signing a bumper new deal. Since that decision was made, the 21-year-old has struggled to show his true potential and now finds himself in Germany trying to rediscover the form that saw him initially break into the Chelsea first team.
Tuchel has a huge decision to make next summer on the futures of a number of players, most notably that of Lukaku and Hudson-Odoi following the latest squad number announcements. The decision to hand Aubameyang and Zakaria squad numbers of those out on loan may hint at the fact Lukaku and Hudson-Odoi are not part of the manager's plans moving forward.
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