New Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has ruthlessly opted to send Denis Zakaria back to Juventus, with the midfielder following Joao Felix out the exit door.
Zakaria made just 11 appearances after arriving last summer and was frozen out by Frank Lampard during the Englishman's spell as caretaker boss. He was part of a squad which finished a disappointing 12th in the Premier League, a dreadful performance given last summer's heavy spending.
The Swiss international was just one of several flops who arrived at Stamford Bridge last summer. And his time at the Blues is over after just one campaign with the club, with Pochettino opting to send him back to Juventus.
The new Blues boss has decided that Zakaria will not be part of his plans moving forward. Pochettino officially took charge on Monday, with owner Todd Boehly hoping the Argentine can inspire a radical turnaround in form.
One of the major challenges facing Pochettino is the bloated make-up of his squad and he is pushing to cut down the number of players he is dealing with. That has included opting against triggering the option to buy clause in Zakaria's loan deal.
Zakaria is the third player to discover he has no future at Chelsea, following in the footsteps of Felix and Dujon Sterling. Felix was also on loan at the Blues, but largely failed to live up to expectations.
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Pochettino has now decided Felix will return to Atletico Madrid, with the LaLiga side's president confirming that news on Tuesday. Chelsea's new boss is clearly attempting to put his mark on the squad, with both Zakaria and Felix having been signed by previous managers.
The news that Pochettino has decided to send Zakaria back to Italy will be difficult for the midfielder. Soon after his arrival, the 26-year-old heavily hinted that he was eyeing an eventual permanent move.
"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," he told The Athletic in October.
"We will see what happens at the end. Juventus is a big, big club, like Chelsea. I learnt a lot there, with big, big players. And I can only be grateful for that because they gave me a lot of chances and everything.
‘I am a fan of Juventus and I follow Juventus, of course. But now I am a Chelsea player, so I’m focused here and I want to give my best to help the team. For me, I’m a new player, but I feel like I’ve been here one or two years already.
"It was not an easy solution [to join Chelsea] but in the end, I am a player, I need also this challenge to be better. For me, I am better when I take challenges. To change everything, like language, is not easy, but I think I can do it."
