Chelsea deadline day signing Denis Zakaria already knows that his time could be up in west London despite only arriving at the club on September 1.
The midfielder arrived as a deadline day signing from Juventus, signing a season-long deal with the option to make the move permanent at the end of the season. Indeed, he came as a highly-regarded player who would provide added quality and depth at Stamford Bridge.
However, Zakaria is yet to play a single minute of football under Graham Potter since his arrival and has already told of how his loan spell could be set to reach a premature end with the Blues if he is deemed surplus to requirements.
Earlier this month, Zakaria told The Athletic how he was desperate to convince Chelsea to hand him a permanent contract at Stamford Bridge. He said: “Of course. If you don’t do good, you don’t have the chance to stay.
“Chelsea is a big club and if you’re not good enough, you can’t stay at this club. I am here to prove I deserve to be here, that I am a good player and I can help the team. We will see what happens at the end.”
By then, Chelsea had played five games since Zakaria had joined - now it’s 11. He is still yet to feature for the Blues, even though their hectic October schedule has seen them play eight fixtures already this month, where rotation has been key.
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One way or another, he has struggled to break into the starting lineup, or even earn some minutes from the bench. With just five more games to play before the World Cup next month, Zakaria’s situation is beginning to look bleak.
Even a long-term injury to N’Golo Kante has failed to help his cause, with Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Conor Gallagher and Mason Mount all chosen ahead of him to play in the central midfield role at some point or another.
Zakaria arrived off the back of an eight-month stint at Juventus, where he moved from Borussia Monchengladbach for €4.5million (£3.8m) on deadline day in the January transfer window, signing a four-and-a-half-year deal.
Chelsea have the option to secure him for £30m next summer, although Zakaria hasn’t had the chance yet to prove he is worth that. As a result, it is looking ever more likely that he will not remain a Chelsea player next season.
But he may not even reach past January. There have been rumours that Zakaria’s loan move could be cut short in the New Year, although Potter has quickly denied any such suggestions and stated that the midfielder remains “an important member of the team”.
He said: “There has been no decision made at all on that. Denis has been in the group and he’s been training well. He’s ready to help the team but obviously there’s competition for places in that area. There’s no talks [about leaving].”
