Liverpool move officially ruled out for ‘excellent’ player after dream Champions League debut

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Denis Zakaria finally made his Chelsea debut on Wednesday and officially ruled out any chance of a January switch to Liverpool.

Chelsea played the final game of their Champions League group stage campaign on Wednesday night.

Dinamo Zagreb travelled to Stamford Bridge and took the lead through Bruno Petkovic.

Raheem Sterling pulled Chelsea level but the winner in a 2-1 victory came from an unlikely source.

Denis Zakaria finally made his Chelsea debut

Graham Potter decided to finally give a first run-out to Denis Zakaria.

The Swiss midfielder joined Chelsea on loan from Juventus back on deadline day as Thomas Tuchel bolstered his midfield.

Tuchel was gone quickly after though and Potter hadn’t used Zakaria even once before last night.

Zakaria was given a chance to start though with Chelsea already through and he took his opportunity.

Zakaria fired the winning goal, striking from the edge of the box as Dinamo couldn’t quite scrap his shot off the line.

The 25-year-old will be delighted to have finally been given a chance by Chelsea and he has earned praise for his display.

Joe Cole has praised Zakaria as ‘excellent’ and this display kills off the idea of him joining another club in January.

Sky Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio reported that Liverpool asked about signing Zakaria but no deal was done.

Liverpool signed Juventus teammate Arthur Melo instead and Zakaria did tell Blick in his native Switzerland that he heard Liverpool wanted him.

Some wondered whether Zakaria would be sent back to Juventus and loaned out to another club – such as Liverpool.

That is no longer possible after Zakaria finally made his Chelsea debut.

Zakaria made two Serie A appearances for Juventus before heading to Chelsea and can’t play for a third club this season.

Zakaria’s only options now are staying at Chelsea or returning to make an impact at Juventus.

If Liverpool do still fancy Zakaria, they will have to wait until next summer – and that’s if Chelsea haven’t pursued a permanent move by then, which Zakaria may now aim for after a dream debut.