Juventus bolster midfield by adding Zakaria from Monchengladbach

Juventus continue to reload in January.

The Italian giants bolstered their midfield by signing Denis Zakaria on Monday, paying a total of €8.6 million to add the Swiss international from Borussia Monchengladbach.

Gladbach will collect €4.5 million of that amount, payable over three years, the Serie A team said.

Zakaria, 25, was set to become a free agent this summer. Instead of losing the defensive midfielder for nothing, Gladbach opted to collect a small fee.

Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, and Arsenal were among the clubs believed to also be in the running for the midfielder's signature.

The arrival of Zakaria in Turin was linked to the departure of Rodrigo Bentancur, who joined Tottenham Hotspur earlier in the day. Zakaria, who joined Gladbach in 2017, will help a Juventus side that's been trying to retool its midfield - with little success - for several years.

His move comes just days after Juve completed the opulent signing of Dusan Vlahovic from Fiorentina, thus addressing the team's two most glaring weaknesses - goalscoring prowess and midfield imbalance - in short order.