15 September 2023 , 07:59
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Arsen Zakharyan has expressed his relief at not moving to Chelsea as he had “more interesting” offers on the table.
The Russian forward emerged as a target for the Blues around a year ago. They were initially keen on the 20-year-old last summer and were set to trigger the release clause written into his Dynamo Moscow contract but Russia ’s invasion of Ukraine complicated the deal.
Zakharyan was linked with the Blues once more in January, whilst they remained interested earlier this summer despite their lucrative £450m outlay on 12 new faces - the most expensive of those being the British record arrival of Moises Caicedo from Brighton.
Todd Boehly put plans in place in an attempt to get a deal for the forward over the line. It was claimed that Zakharyan would initially be signed by Chelsea’s sister club Strasbourg with a view to a switch to Stamford Bridge in the future.
However, an agreement failed to come to fruition with the seven-time Russian international instead moving to Spanish side Real Sociedad - penning a six-year deal in the process. Speaking since switching to LaLiga, Zakharyan has confirmed that he was indeed in talks with Chelsea but was not particularly enthused by a move to West London.
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He said: “I realised that I was already a Real player when I signed. When I couldn’t fly for the first time, I didn’t understand anything. I thought I could fail. I didn’t understand anything about my future, I was in limbo.
Arsen Zakharyan eventually moved to Real Sociedad (Getty Images)Would Zakharyan have been a good signing for Chelsea? Share your thoughts in the comments below
“Fortunately, everything worked out. I was nervous, very nervous. For me it was more interesting to come to Real than to Chelsea. It was also a more realistic option. And here I am.”
Zakharyan moves to the Basque country off the back of a number of excellent campaigns with Dynamo Moscow. Before his switch, he had made 89 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring 19 goals and 25 assists.
He has already made two outings for his new club with two substitute appearances before the international break. Zakharyan will hope to earn his first start this weekend as Sociedad travel to the Santiago Bernabeu to take on Real Madrid.
He has been joined by a familiar face at Sociedad with Kieran Tierney having also made a loan move from Arsenal. The pair will hope to have an impact this season with Sociedad embarking on a Champions League campaign for the first time since the 2013/14 campaign.
They have been drawn against Inter Milan, Benfica and Red Bull Salzburg in the group stages.