West Ham United will soon have more than £100m to play with should the Declan Rice transfer windfall be invested back into the squad as expected.

Rice's move to Arsenal is edging ever closer, leaving West Ham not only in need of a replacement but also upgrades in various other positions.

Who will replace Declan Rice at West Ham?

David Moyes' men have been linked with numerous replacements for Rice, though it is becoming increasingly clear that none of those on their list of targets will fulfil the midfield role in quite the same way.

One name who is repeatedly touted as a target for Moyes is Juventus midfielder Denis Zakaria, with the Evening Standard suggesting West Ham have now held talks with the Serie A heavyweights over a loan move with the option to buy.

It is claimed that the Europa Conference League winners would be prepared to pay £16m to permanently sign the Switzerland international, who spent last season on loan in the Premier League with West Ham's London rivals Chelsea.

How good is Denis Zakaria?

Zakaria was one of the top midfield talents on the continent across five seasons as a regular for Borussia Monchengladbach in the Bundesliga, leading to a switch to Juventus in January 2022 as he neared the end of his contract.

Since then, however, the Swiss has played 18 league matches across half a season with Juventus and a whole season with Chelsea. As Telegraph writer Stefan Bienkowski put it, Zakaria's failed loan spell at Stamford Bridge was "a complete waste of time and talent".

The circumstances of Zakaria's loan period at Chelsea must be factored in, with numerous players and managers coming and going last season.

Indeed, the 26-year-old showed what he was capable of in glimpses, as his 88.9 pass-completion percentage over the past 12 months places him in the top 5% of all midfielders across Europe's top five leagues, as per FBref.

However, not since 2020-21 has Zakaria played more than 16 games in a league season, and West Ham supporters need no reminding of what happened when they previously loaned a player from Juve with the option to make it permanent.

Simone Zaza made just 11 appearances for West Ham in the 2016-17 season, eight of those in the Premier League and each without scoring. In fact, so bad was the forward's loan spell that just five months after signing he was on his way to Valencia and he was not seen again.

Zakaria and Zaza are different types of player, of course, but the warning signs are there. The Italian was also recruited by Juve amid much fanfare, only to last only a season – four months more than Zakaria, at least – before being shipped out to east London.

West Ham cannot say the warning signs are not there, either, as Zakaria ranks in the bottom 1% of all midfielders across Europe's elite leagues for progressive passes (1.78 per 90 minutes) over the past year, and in the bottom 17% for blocks (0.89 per 90), an area he once thrived in.

While the need for a Rice replacement is apparent, Zakaria is surely not West Ham's man.