Arsenal appear to have suffered a setback in their pursuit of highly rated FC Twente star Hakim Ziyech.
FC Twente star Hakim Ziyech has been on the radar of a host of clubs following two stellar seasons in the Eredevisie. Chronicle had reported that Arsenal were among a number of other clubs chasing the attacking midfielder. The report said that there was interest from a barrage of Premier League clubs namely Sunderland, Middlesbrough, West Ham, Everton, Swansea City, Watford and Crystal Palace.
The rumour mill didn’t stop with the Premier League as according to football oranje (based on a report by Voetbal International), PSV had submitted an enquiry for the 23-year-old Eredivisie star. Dortmund, too, were rumored to be monitoring the dribbler as a possible replacement for the departed Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The report also stated interest from clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United but the latter two clubs haven’t been strongly linked with a move for the Moroccan. The Moroccan is a hot property and was reportedly scouted by La Liga champions Barcelona earlier in May, as per barcablaugranes based on a report from Diario Sport.
Hakim Ziyech is one of the brightest stars of Eredivisie and currently has two years remaining on his Twente contract. The midfielder was set to leave FC Twente with the club reportedly relegated for financial misdealings. But, FC Twente recently avoided relegation after a successful appeal against the decision and are in no hurry to sell the superstar.
Recent reports from Turkish newspaper AMK claims that the star is in talks with Turkish giants Fenerbahce and is close to agreeing terms with the Yellow Canaries offering €1.8m per year to the player in wages. Fenerbahce are yet to agree a fee with FC Twente over the transfer as Haberturk have reported that the Eredivisie club is holding out for an £8m fee. Meanwhile, the report states that Fenerbahce are reluctant to spend more than the £7.2M they received in the recently confirmed transfer of Nani to Valencia.
The 23-year-old sensation is reportedly available in a cut-price deal around £8m which is an absolute steal for a player of Ziyech’s calibre. The Twente star was the third highest rated player of the league with an average rating of 7.75 (via whoscored) over 33 appearances. He was one of the most prolific players of the league last season amassing 17 goals and 10 assists.
There may be a number of clubs after the Moroccan’s signature but only a few of them can provide him the chance to play in the Champions League this season. Fenerbahce are one of the clubs with Champions League football and may well steal a march on others in the race to sign one of the hottest properties in Dutch football right now.
