Credit: Imago

Evan Lloyd

Thu 26 March 2026 13:30, UK

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Denis Zakaria has played for three different clubs under the management of Tottenham Hotspur target Adi Hutter.

The pair appear to be inseparable, first coming across each other in 2015, when the Austrian was in charge of Young Boys.

Zakaria, a teenager at the time, had been signed from Servette in the months before Hutter was named manager.

The 56-year-old took a liking to the midfielder, and has constantly attempted to reunite with him throughout his career following.

Zakarai, 29, is unlikely to be on Tottenham’s transfer list already, but he surely will be mentioned if Hutter is to be appointed.

Adi Hutter and Denis Zakaria’s relationship

Ex-Everton chief executive Keith Wyness exclusively told Football Insider this month that Tottenham should not hire Hutter, due to his lack of Premier League experience.

The manager has spent his career in Austria, Germany and France, and does offer an attacking brand of football.

Tottenham’s situation is precarious, however, and if they were to appoint him, it would likely have to be a decision made if relegation is avoided.

But decision-makers will already be drawing up lists of potential transfers in the case of both scenarios, with Hutter surely set to make his admiration for Zakaria known if he is appointed.

It was the manager following the player in the first two instances of them working together, with the midfielder moving to Borussia Monchengladbach in 2017.

Hutter was appointed by the German club in 2021, but left by mutual consent in the following summer, six months after Zakaria had been sold to Juventus.

The Austrian would finally get the chance to bring his favourite to him in 2023, when, after two months in charge of Monaco, the Ligue 1 side paid £17million for the Switzerland international.

All in all, the 29-year-old has spent six seasons with Hutter, making 143 appearances for his teams. Those numbers could well rise this summer.

What Hutter has said about ‘gifted’ Zakaria

Of course, Tottenham would have to be on board with the potential signing of Zakaria, and that is certainly not guaranteed.

The midfielder is 30 in November, and struggled to get into the Chelsea team during his loan spell from Juventus in the 2022-23 season.

But asked about Zakaria before his move to Monaco, Hutter said: “Of course [I would be happy]. We have been speaking about it for two or three weeks.

“I spoke with him yesterday and he would be very happy to come to AS Monaco. I’ve known him since 2015 when I arrived at Bern and he was 18. He was a really gifted, talented player.

“Then after two years he left for Borussia Monchengladbach, and then I trained with him a second time there, and this would be a third time.”