After one year of inactivity, Chelsea managed their first signing striking a £33.3million deal with Ajax for winger Hakim Ziyech.
But it wasn’t until February 13 that Chelsea announced their first signing, Hakim Ziyech, despite Chelsea being able to sign players in January as they had their transfer ban reduced upon a successful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Ziyech is now due to join the Blues on July 1 ahead of next season, though it remains unclear when the 2019/20 campaign could get underway.
The Moroccan international has been a star presence in Dutch football for years now and surely the Chelsea fans will be eagerly anticipating the same effect of him in Blue colors as well. Gus Poyet, who spent four years of his career at Stamford Bridge and regarded as a cult hero, now while talking about the move however has brought up big attention.
According to the Uruguay international, he although has no complaint about the move and highly regards the player but he is not happy with the way the deal was concluded As per the former Chelsea midfielder, the Blues could have waited till Summer to complete the deal or shown urgency to get it past in January only.
“I didn’t understand – and I’m not criticizing anyone – why Chelsea, after all that went on in the summer, not being able to sign players, get to January with the possibility of signing players, they didn’t, and then three days later, four days later, they announce they sign a player for next year,” Poyet said.
“It’s not normal, okay. I’m not saying it’s bad, but I lost it a little bit because you complain a lot about not being able to buy, then you have the chance to buy and you don’t, and then when the transfer window is closed you announce that you bought one,” Poyet added.
Poyet genuinely has a point but it is possible that Ajax did not want to lose the player mid-way. Therefore, before waiting till the Summer and ahead of any other parties getting, Lampard might have pushed for the deal to be over, which was a sensible point.
Ziyech has been a big influential player for the Dutch giants, helping the side win 2018-19 league title and scoring 48 goals and helping in other 82 in 165 appearances. The numbers will surely excite the Chelsea fans who will now only hope the player could match the same in England as well.