Former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has also praised Ziyech ahead of his arrival at Chelsea
Hakim Ziyech has been backed by a former Ajax team-mate and Louis van Gaal to flourish in the Premier League with Chelsea. The Morocco international is set to join his new team-mates soon, after a £33million deal was agreed back in February.
Ziyech caught the eye after playing a key role in the young Ajax side that reached the Champions League semi-finals last season, narrowly missing out on a place in the final after the dramatic defeat to Tottenham.
And Aston Villa and Netherlands winger Anwar El Ghazi – who played alongside Ziyech in Amsterdam – expects his former team-mate to hit the ground running when he gets his first taste of Premier League action.
“You have to think about your muscles with so many games [in the Premier League],” El Ghazi told Bureau Sport. “I thought I was big and heavy, but sometimes you run into a player and you think: is that a wall?
“But Ziyech is going to do well at Chelsea, 100 per cent. He has his qualities and he shouldn’t have to be physical. “He’s agile and can move well because he’s so thin. Going to the gym doesn’t mean going to Basic Fit [Dutch gym chain] to become a powerhouse.
“You can also work your core, train your abs, pull-ups. It doesn’t make you a bodybuilder. Being in the gym doesn’t just mean pumping and pumping.”
Van Gaal told NOS: “He has developed tremendously at Ajax. Not so much in creativity, but as a team player. “The public have realised that he works very hard for a creative player. And then he also scores goals and gives assists. Then you are a special player.”