Newcastle United have reportedly turned down the chance to sign Chelsea outcast and World Cup semi-finalist Hakim Ziyech due to what they view as excessive wage demands.
According to CBS reporter Ben Jacobs (via Caught Offside), Newcastle United have now pulled out of the race to sign the 29-year-old Moroccan playmaker-cum-winger Hakim Ziyech from Chelsea in the January transfer window as they don’t want to smash their wage structure and want to build organically over time without upsetting the apple cart.
The well-known journalist said to CaughtOffside, “Ziyech has very high wages, which is putting off a lot of clubs – Newcastle United, for example, didn’t want to pay Ziyech’s wages because they didn’t want to break their wage structure too significantly, while they have Financial Fair Play concerns as well.
Unless they qualify for the Champions League and can change their budget, they have to be careful, and Eddie Howe is very keen as well to keep unity, and the way to do that is not to, halfway through the season, bring in a new player on sky-high wages, which could potentially unsettle the rest of the squad.”
Ziyech, who is renowned for his artistic left foot and pinpoint delivery, excelled for Morocco as the Atlas Lions reached the World Cup semi-finals in Qatar, but he has not managed to put in the same kind of performances consistently enough at the club level, having fallen out of favour under Graham Potter.
The 29-year-old has been linked elsewhere since the summer, with reports claiming that AC Milan came close to signing the Morocco international, while Ajax were also believed to be an interested party.
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Newcastle have also been name-checked as surprise potential contenders for a winter swoop for the Chelsea attacker after his exploits at the biggest stage and were tentatively monitoring the situation around him at Stamford Bridge.
But the Magpies decided to pass up on the opportunity to sign the Chelsea ace due to his outrageous wage demands. It is claimed that Eddie Howe and Co. were enticed by the prospect of landing Ziyech owing to his outstanding creative attributes, but his financial demands put them off.
The Magpies currently sit third in the Premier League after suffering only one defeat in the English top flight over the first half of the season, which is an incredibly impressive feat considering that they were relegation candidates when head coach Eddie Howe was appointed a little more than a year ago.
And while they do need to bring in a couple of options to boost the squad’s depth in order to bolster their hopes of finishing inside the top four, Newcastle’s phenomenal form would suggest that they are not in desperate need to add any new players this month.
So, it’s perfectly understandable that Howe wants to maintain the harmonious culture of the dressing room, especially given they have some concerns surrounding FFP limiting their spending after extravagant spending in the last few windows.
Ziyech also doesn’t fit the age profile, with Newcastle looking to bring over young talents and avoid making overpriced acquisitions that negatively affect their wage bill and squad rebuilding process. As for Ziyech, it will be interesting to see where he will be plying his trade next.
