Initially, Chelsea FC got exactly what they wanted in the January window- a lift of the transfer ban. After all that work by their legal team to get the ban lifted, the southwest London club signed…..nobody.
So all that work was for nothing and now the Premier League giants will just have to hit it hard come summer transfer window. The first acquisition will likely be Ajax star Hakim Ziyech, as he’s reached an agreement in principle to join the Blues, according to reports in Dutch publications De Telegraaf and Voetbal International.
Last year’s UEFA Champions League semifinalists, now relegated to competing in the Europa League after having crashed out of the group stages this time, initially believed he was going to leave the club this past summer, amid links to Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Sevilla and Borussia Dortmund.
Now it appears he’ll stay until the end of the season, with hopes of helping the Amsterdam club to a league title in the Dutch top flight.
Ziyech, 26, has a release clause reported to be £26 million, and the Moroccan international would definitely be a very nice pick-up for a Blues front line that is definitely in need of a boost.
Ziyech is a creative play maker who joined Ajax in the summer of 2016 from another Netherlands club, FC Twente. Contracted to his current club until 2022, he has eight goals and 21 assists across all competitions this season. Where he would fit in exactly at Stamford Bridge remains to be seen, as they do have a lot of young talent on the wings and in midfield.
However, the Blues have plateaued in mid-season after a hot start, and their issues in the final third have a lot of do with that.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link.