West Ham United are determined to land Denis Zakaria this summer and have pushed to get a deal done, according to a report from Calciomercato l'Originale, via Juventus News 24.

How many games did Denis Zakaria play in last season?

The midfielder spent the 2022/23 season on loan with Chelsea in the Premier League, but was given only seven games to prove his worth in the top flight under Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Frank Lampard. Even worse for the 26-year-old is that only five of those came as starts – meaning that he had just 411 minutes of playing time with the Blues during his stint there.

He therefore wasn't able to regularly showcase what he is capable of, having also struggled to get gametime with parent club Juventus. Since joining the Serie A giants, he has played just eleven league games for them too, at a total of just 720 minutes.

Zakaria though really shone during his time in Germany with Borussia Monchengladbach, He twice featured in the top ten pass completion leaderboard for the club and ranked eighth in the entire Bundesliga for the amount of blocks he produced back in the 2017/18 season. He can produce the goods in the centre of the field then – he just hasn't been able to show it recently.

Now though, he may have the opportunity to land another move and get that chance. According to a report from Calciomercato l'Originale, via Juventus News 24, Gianluca Di Marzio believes West Ham are still very eager to sign Zakaria and have actually pushed for a transfer "in the last few hours."

There is no mention of an official bid or formal approach, but it seems as though the Hammers are now really desperate to try and land the midfielder this summer – and want to try and get a deal done sooner rather than later.

A transfer could be possible too, with the report adding that he isn't an essential part of Massimiliano Allegri's plans at Juventus. That suggests he could be sold at the right price – and if West Ham stump up the funds then, a deal could get over the line.

What is Denis Zakaria worth?

It's unclear how much a potential transfer for Zakaria may cost, but Transfermarkt suggest that his value could be around the 18 million Euros (or £15.4m) mark. It's not a large fee for the Hammers to pay should he actually cost that much, and it could be worth a gamble considering his experience and potential ability on the field should he be able to feature frequently.

He's clearly got some talent in his locker despite his lack of gametime too – journalist Josh Bunting stated that the midfielder was "powerful" at Chelsea in terms of "winning the ball back" and it showcases how much of a presence he can be in the centre of the field.

On his day then, the current Juventus man could be a real asset for a club – and if West Ham snap him up and play him regularly, they could therefore reap the rewards.