The Mönchengladbach midfielder has been the fulcrum of the Bundesliga's surprise package this season and some big spenders are watching.
Borussia Mönchengladbach have assumed the lead of the Bundesliga ahead of Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich going into the first weekend of domestic action after the international break and one of the side’s stand-out players has been 22-year-old Swiss international Denis Zakaria, who has attracted interest from some of Europe’s big hitters including – inevitably – Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan.
The defensive midfielder has played every single minute of the season in all competitions and has caught the eye for his imposing stature and his pace covering the lines for Die Fohlen. Zakaria has been capped 24 times by Switzerland and pops up with the occasional goal, another string to his bow that has also alerted Inter Milan, Tottenham and Manchester United to the previously unsung number eight.
Gladbach looking to break club record if Zakaria is sold
Zakaria arrived in Mönchengladbach in 2017 to replace his international teammate Granit Xhaka for a fee of around 10-12 million euros but the German club are fairly certain they can more than quadruple that if they sell next summer, possibly even for a club record fee of 50 million euros. The current record is held by Xhaka, who reaped €45m when he moved to the Premier League.
Dortmund reportedly offered €22m for Zakaria in 2018 and Mönchengladbach sporting director Max Eberl hardly issued a hands-off warning when he said recently: "We are very happy with how Denis has developed and we want him to stay here for a long time, but Gladbach are and will continue to be an institution that depends on revenue from the transfer market. If a tempting offer comes in then we will have to look at it.”