Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has decided he does not want to keep Juventus loanee Denis Zakaria, according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano.

Which Chelsea players are leaving?

Pochettino is planning a huge overhaul of his squad this summer, with The Daily Mail reporting up to 15 out-of-favour players are set to head for the exit, including Joao Felix, who is poised to return to Atletico Madrid after his loan spell.

With six players set to return from loans elsewhere, Pochettino's squad is set to become even more bloated this summer, and the new manager will have to create some space in the squad by allowing a number of players to leave.

The aforementioned report names Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Hakim Ziyech, Christian Pulisic, Edoaurd Mendy and Callum Hudson-Odoi as the main players expected to move on, while the situation surrounding a number of other first-team players remains unclear.

Taking to Twitter, Romano has now clarified that Zakaria will move on in the summer, with Pochettino coming to the conclusion that he is surplus to requirements. The transfer guru said:

"Mauricio Pochettino has decided also on Denis Zakaria: Swiss midfielder’s set to leave Chelsea in June, he’s not part of the plans."

"Chelsea will not trigger the buy option clause, Zakaria will return at Juventus and then will assess his options."

Should Chelsea let Denis Zakaria leave?

Chelsea bolstered their midfield options during the January transfer window, bringing in Enzo Fernandez for a British-record £106.8m fee, and they have since been linked with a number of other players, including Romeo Lavia and Manuel Ugarte.

As such, the Blues have no real need to keep hold of Zakaria, particularly considering he failed to hold down a consistent place in the starting XI, often being utilised as a substitute or benched.

The Switzerland international did manage to impress at times, being lauded as "fantastic" by members of the media for his performance against Manchester City back in January, but too often he failed to make an impact on the game.

In his most recent outing, the 26-year-old was ranked as the worst-performing player on the pitch by SofaScore, failing to win any of the four duels that he contested, and that display meant he did not make another appearance during the remainder of the campaign.

It appears to be the right call from Pochettino to let Zakaria leave, and the manager's focus should now be on bringing in a top-quality replacement.