The Blues have been following Ziyech for some time now.
And it seems as though he will be their first summer arrival.
Ajax has reportedly agreed to sell star Hakim Ziyech to Chelsea in a deal worth between €45 million, with bonuses tied to the player’s performance. The 26-year-old, born in Dronten, has played internationally for Morocco over the last five years.
Chelsea attempted to deal with the Amsterdam club in January to secure Ziyech, but the negotiation failed. The deal between the two sides is likely to come this week, as per De Telegraaf. In his 107 appearances for Ajax since 2016, the attacking midfielder has scored 38 times. He is also credited with 51 assists, and he has been booked for nine yellow cards during his Amsterdam tenure.
Since 2017/18, Hakim Ziyech has been directly involved in a shot once every 10 minutes in league and European competition:
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) February 12, 2020
❐ 8362 minutes
❐ 479 shots
❐ 354 chances created
Outrageous output. pic.twitter.com/mMgdAyOclJ
Prior to that, he played just over two years each with Twente and Heerenveen. As an offensive player, he had breakout seasons in terms of goals scored from 2014-2016 with Twente when he put the ball in the back of the net 28 times in 64 matches.
The winger briefly played for the Dutch men’s national team under Guus Hiddink, but he was not asked to return when Danny Blind replaced Hiddink. Ziyech was given the chance instead to join Morocco in late 2015. He has 14 goals in 32 matches during his time representing that country. He was also named the top football player in the Netherlands after the 2017-18 season, and he won the award for Morocco’s best player in 2016.
