Chelsea are reportedly ready to listen to offers for attacking midfielder Hakim Ziyech, who is wanted by the likes of Atletico Madrid and Juventus.
According to the transfer expert, Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea have eased their stance on the availability of 29-year-old attacking wizard Hakim Ziyech. They are ready to listen to offers for the Moroccan international and could end up selling the player if a major bid arrives this summer.
When Chelsea signed Hakim Ziyech from Ajax in 2020, there was plenty of excitement among the Blues’ fans and understandably so. The London giants had just secured one of European football’s hottest attacking talents, someone who has exceptional gifted quality on his left foot. It was a no-brainer for Chelsea to sign him for a relatively modest £36 million at the time as well.
However, things have not gone as planned for the 29-year-old since arriving in London. Ziyech has made 83 outings for the Blues over the course of two full seasons, scoring 14 times and assisting ten goals in the process.
While this is in no way a disastrous return from the playmaker, injuries coupled with his struggles to settle into a faster-paced league mean his form has blown hot and cold during his time at Stamford Bridge so far. As a result, he has failed to maintain the sort of levels he was showing week in and week out at Ajax.
This season has been much better for Ziyech as he has shown that ability to influence games, but has been unable to nail down a starting spot in manager Thomas Tuchel’s best XI. The Moroccan has started just eight Premier League games for Chelsea since the start of 2022.
Chelsea are preparing to enter a new chapter, this time under American ownership, with Todd Boehly expected to take over the reins in the next few days. The new owners will want to make their mark with a superstar signing this summer, as seen by their recent links to players like Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling.
Undoubtedly, the Blues need more goals from their frontline to close the gap at the top. Manchester City and Liverpool, who comfortably finished above Chelsea, highlighted that both teams are miles apart from the rest of the league. Tuchel will certainly be hoping for a more potent and razor-sharp attack next season.
As such, Ziyech is not the only forward who could be sold by the Blues this summer. Timo Werner could move away from Stamford Bridge this summer, while USMNT star Christian Pulisic could also consider his future ahead of the 2022/23 season. Tuchel has previously stated on several occasions that this summer’s transfer business is essentially a rebuild, rather than merely upgrading the roster.
Ziyech still has three years remaining on his contract, but there will be no shortage of suitors should he wish to depart Chelsea, as per Romano. But, no interested parties are mentioned as being directly tied to the Moroccan International who has previously been on the radars of Juventus, Atletico Madrid and AC Milan.