Hakim Ziyech to lose Chelsea career as chiefs Roman Abramovich and Marina Granovskaia approve Thomas Tuchel transfer plan
Chelsea are reportedly set to allow one of last summer’s signings to leave the club.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and director Marina Granovskaia have approved Thomas Tuchel’s plan to trim his squad this summer, according to reports.
Tuchel is yet to lose a match as Chelsea boss since replacing the sacked Frank Lampard in January. The German has led the Blues to the quarter-final of the Champions League as well as fourth place in the Premier League.
Chelsea splashed the cash last summer, spending over £220million on seven new signings. Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech were brought in by Lampard to bolster the attacking resources.
However, all three players have faced their own struggles in their first season in England. Werner has scored just five goals in 28 Premier League appearances, with Havertz netting just once in 21 outings.
Ziyech has made just 15 league appearances due to injury problems since his £33million arrival from Ajax.
And Ian McGarry of the Transfer Window podcast says it is the Morocco international who Tuchel is keen to sell this summer.
Ziyech is one of a number of players who Tuchel is willing to let go.
McGarry said: “It is our information that Chelsea intend to sell this summer, having invested heavily to the extent of £230m last summer in rebuilding and of course recruiting to the squad.
“It is our information that a very well-known agent has been asked to market certain players, the most prominent being Hakim Ziyech who of course has not been at the club very long but Thomas Tuchel believes that the squad is top heavy in attacking midfielders and that Ziyech is probably the most expendable should they be able to recoup some of the investment in him.”
Chelsea owner Abramovich has not attended a match at Stamford Bridge since 2018. However, McGarry says the Russian still plays a big part in the transfer decisions at the club.
And both Abramovich and Granovskaia are set to green-light Tuchel’s plan to sell the likes of Ziyech in the next window.
McGarry added: “It’s my information that [Abramovich] still does attend board meetings via video link and has approved Tuchel’s plans for this summer, and Marina Granovskaia has as well said that yes they will market the players that we’ve mentioned, as well as two or three other fringe players in order to offset any further investment.
“So it looks like Chelsea are going to continue in their gearing up to challenge for the Premier League title, Champions League obviously.”
