Chelsea manager Graham Potter doesn't trust summer signing Denis Zakaria, according to journalist Simon Phillips.
The £51,000 per-week star made the switch to Stamford Bridge on deadline day, but he's still waiting to make his first appearance for the Blues.
What's the latest news involving Zakaria?
Following the departures of Billy Gilmour and Ross Barkley, ex-manager Thomas Tuchel opted to bolster his midfield department with the loan signing of the Juventus star.
Zakaria struggled for regular game-time following his January switch to Serie A, but his frustrations have simply continued since his arrival in the Premier League.
GiveMeSport The Verdict
He missed out on making his debut in the first couple of weeks due to fitness problems and was only named on the bench in a league game for the first time at Aston Villa last weekend.
But Zakaria was overlooked by Potter at Villa Park and then again at Brentford and has now been an unused substitute in six games.
As a result, Phillips reckons that Zakaria simply hasn't earned Potter's trust, explaining exactly why he's still waiting to make his Blues bow.
What did Phillips say about Zakaria?
He told GIVEMESPORT: "Potter doesn't trust him enough and he is the last midfielder down the pecking order in his squad for now.
"He had struggled to get back fully match fit, so this put him behind. But it's also a case of Potter just not having enough faith in him to put him out on the pitch. I think he will go back to Juventus in January."
What's next for Zakaria?
Unfortunately for Zakaria, Potter has already made his feelings clear about the midfielder and his situation doesn't look likely to improve.
Remarkably, 90min believe that Chelsea could send Zakaria back to Juventus in January, with the west Londoners potentially terminating his loan deal.
The report claims that the Switzerland international doesn't feature in Potter's plans, although they have to hope that Juventus are willing to take him back because he can only play for two teams in the same season after already featuring for the Old Lady prior to his move to Chelsea.
That could end up forcing the Blues to keep him for the remainder of the campaign, which wouldn't be a helpful outcome for anyone involved.