Chelsea have ‘verbal agreement’ in place for sale of 30-year-old attacker: Reports
Hakim Ziyech is reportedly set to join Galatasaray after the Turkish side reached a verbal agreement with Chelsea. The Moroccan star is heading for his medical on Wednesday to complete his switch.
As per a report in The Guardian, Ziyech is close to joining Galatasaray this week. The former Ajax star was not a part of Mauricio Pochettino's plans and was asked to stay in Cobham during the pre-season tour of the United States.
The report has not mentioned a fee, but he was close to joining Al Nassr for €15 million earlier this summer. The forward reportedly failed his medical at the Saudi Arabian side and the move collapsed.
Ziyech was also close to joining PSG in the January window but Chelsea submitted the paperwork late, and thus, the forward could not join the Ligue 1 side on loan.
Hakim Ziyech urged to quick Chelsea by pundits
Marco van Basten has been pushing Hakim Ziyech to leave Chelsea since September 2022. He believes that the winger should be playing every week and that is not going to happen at Stamford Bridge.
Speaking to Ziggo Sport, the former Dutch football said:
"Someone like Ziyech would get to play all the time at another club, and the fans could enjoy watching him. It is sad and a shame that someone of his calibre gets to play so seldom. Ziyech is a terrific player. We want to watch him. It's players like him that make us want to switch on our televisions and go to matches. It is unfortunate for all of football that he remains on the bench. It's not good when these sorts of players don't get any game time."
He added:
"A rule needs to come in that limits clubs to a certain number of players. Chelsèa have far too many, and that makes football less interesting. There are teams now that have 35 [first-team] players, and five or six of them never get a game. Those players ought to be able to shine for other clubs."
Former Moroccan international Mustafa El Haddaoui went on to urge the Moroccan star to make the switch to Manchester United, where his former coach Erik ten Hag was in charge. He told Corriere Dello Sport:
"Now we're witnessing Hakim's potential, and we can see what he's capable of. He is very valuable. Erik ten Hag, the previous Ajax manager, wanted him, thus he needs to leave Chelsea and join Manchester United. He will recover, but Chelsea needs to let him go during the winter transfer window."
Ziyech played 24 matches in all competitions for Chelsea last summer and failed to get on the scoresheet. He assisted three times, but managed just 928 minutes in the whole season.