Denis Zakaria

Denis Lemi Zakaria Lako Lado (born 20 November 1996) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club Chelsea, on loan from Serie A club Juventus, and the Switzerland national team.

Denis Zakaria
Personal information
Full name Denis Lemi Zakaria Lako Lado[1]
Date of birth (1996-11-20) 20 November 1996[2]
Place of birth Geneva, Switzerland
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[2]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder[2]
Team information
Current team
 Chelsea
(on loan from Juventus)
Number 20
Youth career
2004–2015 Servette
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2015 Servette 8 (2)
2015–2017 Young Boys 50 (2)
2017–2022 Borussia Mönchengladbach 125 (11)
2022– Juventus 11 (1)
2022– → Chelsea (loan) 7 (0)
International career‡
2014–2015 Switzerland U19 8 (2)
2015–2016 Switzerland U21 8 (0)
2016– Switzerland 47 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:37, 15 April 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:39, 28 March 2023 (UTC)

Club career

Servette

Born in Geneva, Switzerland, to Congolese father and South Sudanese mother,[3] Zakaria first began playing for local club Servette.[4]

Young Boys

Zakaria joined Young Boys in June 2015 for an undisclosed fee, signing a four-year contract.[5] He made his Swiss Super League debut on 18 July 2015 against FC Zürich in 1–1 away draw replacing Alexander Gerndt after 79 minutes.[6]

Borussia Mönchengladbach

In June 2017, Zakaria signed a five-year contract with Borussia Mönchengladbach. He was transferred as a replacement for Mahmoud Dahoud who left the club for Borussia Dortmund. The transfer fee paid to Young Boys for Zakaria was reported as €10 million.[7] Zakaria scored a total of 11 goals in 125 appearances for Borussia Mönchengladbach.[4]

Juventus

On 31 January 2022, with six months remaining on his contract, Zakaria moved to Serie A club Juventus on a four-and-a-half-year contract,[4][8] in a deal worth €8.6 million.[4] On 6 February, Zakaria scored on his debut in the 61st minute, helping his side beat Hellas Verona 2–0.[9]

Loan to Chelsea

On 1 September 2022, Zakaria was loaned to Premier League club Chelsea until the end of the 2022–23 season with an option of a permanent transfer at the end of the season.[10] On 2 November 2022, Zakaria made his Chelsea debut in the club's final UEFA Champions League group stage match, scoring the winning goal of a 2–1 victory against Dinamo Zagreb.[11]

International career

Zakaria played for various Swiss youth national teams. He could have represented either Switzerland, South Sudan or Congo at a senior level due to being born in Switzerland and having a South Sudanese mother and a Congolese father.[12]

Zakaria made his debut for the senior Switzerland national team in a friendly 2–1 loss to Belgium on 28 May 2016.[13] He was part of the squad for the 2016 European Championships.[13] Zakaria was included in the 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.[14]

In May 2019, Zakaria played in the 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals, where his team finished fourth.[15] He was named in the 26-man Swiss squad for the UEFA Euro 2020.[16] On 2 July 2021, he scored an own goal in Switzerland's quarter-final match against Spain, which they went on to lose on penalties.[17]

Style of play

Due to his characteristics and playing style has led Zakaria to be compared with former France international Patrick Vieira as well as Paul Pogba.[18] Zakaria has been described as a midfield powerhouse due to his pace, strength, athleticism and aggressive playing style.[19] He is also known for being a composed passer and for making surging forward runs from midfield.[20] Primarily a defensive midfielder, he is also capable of playing as a central midfielder, in a holding role, or a box-to-box role, and has even played as a central defender.[21]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 15 April 2023[22]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] League cup[lower-alpha 2] Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Servette 2014–15 Swiss Challenge League 6200——62
Young Boys 2015–16 Swiss Super League 27130—3[lower-alpha 3]0331
2016–17 Swiss Super League 23140—7[lower-alpha 4]0341
Total 50270—100672
Borussia Mönchengladbach 2017–18 Bundesliga 30230——332
2018–19 Bundesliga 31410——324
2019–20 Bundesliga 23220—6[lower-alpha 5]0312
2020–21 Bundesliga 25120—5[lower-alpha 6]0321
2021–22 Bundesliga 16220——182
Total 12511100—11014611
Juventus 2021–22 Serie A 9130—1[lower-alpha 6]0131
2022–23 Serie A 20———20
Total 11130—10151
Chelsea (loan) 2022–23 Premier League 7010102[lower-alpha 6]1111
Career total 198162101024124417
  1. Includes Swiss Cup, DFB-Pokal, Coppa Italia, FA Cup
  2. Includes EFL Cup
  3. One appearance in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances in UEFA Europa League
  5. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  6. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League

International
As of match played 28 March 2023[23]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Switzerland 201630
201760
201891
2019102
202000
2021120
202250
202320
Total473
Scores and results list Switzerland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Zakaria goal.
List of international goals scored by Denis Zakaria
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
18 September 2018Kybunpark, St. Gallen, Switzerland13 Iceland2–06–02018–19 UEFA Nations League A[24]
223 March 2019Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi, Georgia19 Georgia2–02–0UEFA Euro 2020 qualification[25]
38 September 2019Stade Tourbillon, Sion, Switzerland24 Gibraltar1–04–0[26]

Honours

Individual

References
  1. "FIFA World Cup Russia 2018: List of Players: Switzerland" (PDF). FIFA. 15 July 2018. p. 30. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2019.
  2. "Denis Zakaria". borussia.de (in German). Borussia Mönchengladbach. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  3. Wuillemin, Dominic (3 October 2015). "Zackig". Berner Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  4. "OFFICIAL | Zakaria joins Juventus!". Juventus.com. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  5. "U19-Nationalspieler Zakaria zu den Young Boys". Berner Zeitung (in German). 26 June 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  6. "FC Zürich vs. BSC Young Boys - 18 July 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  7. "Bis 2022: Zakaria unterschreibt in Gladbach". kicker Online (in German). 9 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  8. "DENIS ZAKARIA MOVES TO JUVENTUS" (Press release). Borussia Mönchengladbach. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  9. "Vlahovic and Zakaria score on Juventus debuts in Verona win". CNA. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  10. "Zakaria goes on loan to Chelsea from Juventus". Chelsea F.C. 2 September 2022.
  11. "Chelsea 2–1 Dinamo Zagreb". BBC Sport. 2 November 2022.
  12. "Zackig". Berner Zeitung.
  13. "Switzerland include three teenagers in final squad for Euro 2016". ESPN FC. 30 May 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  14. The Washington Post
  15. "Pickford the hero in England shootout win". BBC Sport.
  16. The Athletic Staff. "Switzerland's full 26-man Euro 2020 squad". The Athletic. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  17. "Watch video: Zakaria's own goal gifts Spain early lead in Euro 2020 QF against Switzerland". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  18. "Denis Xhaka-ria the new heartbeat of the Borussia Mönchengladbach midfield". bundesliga.com. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  19. "Denis Zakaria: Borussia Mönchengladbach's midfield monster". bundesliga.com. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  20. "Denis Zakaria: Who is Borussia Mönchengladbach and Switzerland's midfield marvel?". bundesliga.com. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  21. "Denis Zakaria - the biography". chelseafc.com. 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  22. "Denis Zakaria". SofaScore. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  23. "Denis Zakaria". EU-Football.info. 25 June 2018.
  24. "Switzerland-Iceland - UEFA Nations League". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 8 September 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  25. "Georgia-Switzerland - European Qualifiers". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 23 March 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  26. "Switzerland-Gibraltar - European Qualifiers". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 8 September 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  27. "SAFP Golden 11 2016". Golden11. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
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