In a recent report, Transfer Market Web mentioned that Manchester City are hoping to land Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Denis Zakaria in January. It has been revealed that Man City head coach Pep Guardiola is looking to strengthen his midfield and has identified the Swiss talent as a potential option this winter.
Zakaria’s Excellent Form At The Borussia-Park
The Genf-born sensation is having a decent campaign in German football after putting in a handful of solid displays at the centre of Monchengladbach’s midfield. The former Young Boys midfield ace has been involved in 13 matches for the German side this season, netting two goals and grabbing one assist across all competitions.
Zakaria has proven his value as an excellent anchorman in Adi Hütter’s midfield as he is averaging 1.8 tackles, 1.2 interceptions, 1.0 clearances, 1.3 shots, 0.7 key passes and 1.6 dribbles per 90 minutes in the Bundesliga. He has even been tidy when distributing the ball from midfield based on his pass completion rate of 89.2% in the German top tier (stats via whoscored).
Will Zakaria Be A Decent Signing For Manchester City?
Zakaria can use his quickness to make some good runs with the ball towards the opponent’s penalty box. He is a decent playmaker in midfield and has got a good work-rate to make life difficult for the opposition at the centre of the park.
The Switzerland international is a brilliant tackler of the ball and has got good defensive awareness to secure the ball back for his side. He can retain possession with conviction and is versatile enough to fill in as a centre-back if needed.
At 25, Zakaria has got his best years ahead of him and would add a lot of quality to Pep Guardiola‘s midfield department. He could even serve as an ideal successor to Fernandinho whose contract at the Etihad Stadium runs out at the end of this season.
Zakaria could potentially form a dominant midfield partnership with Rodri which would free up Guardiola to opt for a 4-2-3-1 formation at times in the coming seasons. Hence, the Mancunian giants would be wise to engineer a move to bring him to England when the transfer window commences at the start of next year.