Even throughout his injury, the idea that Denis Zakaria could be transferred to Manchester City never wavered.
Out for a good eight months, the Switzerland international finally returned last November, but has yet to recapture his old form, although that hasn’t stopped Pep Guardiola’s men from hovering.
They’re still interested, and a transfer could still very well happen, but one club is set to lose out, and that’s going to be Borussia Mönchengladbach.
The Bundesliga side, according to Bild, were once hoping to beat the €43m they sold Granit Xhaka to Arsenal for, but that seems highly unlikely due to the current situation.
Firstly, the player’s contract is set to expire in 2022, thus limiting the amount Gladbach can ask for from interested parties such as the Etihad side.
Secondly, he isn’t quite the same player, at least not yet, to the one who was attracting all the attention before his injury.
Thirdly, the Covid-19 pandemic has affected finances around Europe, forcing clubs to slash asking prices and previously interested teams to back out in search of more affordable targets.
That’s why Bild explain the best Gladbach can hope for these days is probably ‘a maximum of a fee of around €20m’, meaning ‘half less than what was hoped’.
As for the player in all this, he’s currently with the Switzerland national team, where he spoke to the press, and, relayed by La Tribune de Genève, touched on the subject of his future.
He said: “There’s a lot of speculation surrounding my future, but I’m still under contract until 2022. I’ve always said that I want to take a step up in my career one day, but there’s a season to finish first and I’m focused on that. We can still qualify for a European cup…”
Whether than next step is Manchester City, however, is entirely up to Pep Guardiola and his band of merry men.
