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The Morocco star has had a bright start to life at Chelsea, although ill-timed injuries threaten to derail the playmaker in the New Year
Undeniably, Hakim Ziyech’s transfer to Chelsea excited the entire Blues fanbase, owing to the Morocco superstar’s exploits at Ajax, especially in the previous two seasons and a bit.
The Wizard of Amsterdam was pivotal in the Dutch giants’ Champions League run in 2018/19, with his ingenuity and end product prompting praise from observers.
As such, the announcement in February made followers of the club look forward to the 2020/21 campaign, which was still months away and despite being locked in a battle to end in the automatic CL spots.
Fast forward to the start of this season and those expectations have been matched with solid performances for the North African.
Despite a stop-start few months at Cobham, largely due to injury, Ziyech has been one of the club’s top players this season and arguably the best signing for the new season (Thiago Silva may have a thing or two to say about this, though) and ought to play a huge part in the side’s pursuit for consistency domestically and a return to prominence in Europe in the New Year.
Ziyech: The story of 2020
The cancellation of the Eredivisie in April, owing to the pandemic, meant Ziyech couldn’t play out his final campaign in the Netherlands to its climax, which infuriated the former Twente attacking midfielder.
He had a few choice words to say about the decision to curtail the campaign with Erik ten Hag’s side joint-top at the time along with AZ Alkmaar on 56 points with nine games to play.
Even though the giants had seen standards slip a bit in 19/20, the wide playmaker was second for assists (12) behind teammate Dusan Tadic (14) while he’d scored six times before the league’s suspension and eventual nullification.
This, as well as Ajax’s early elimination in the Europa League, allowed Ziyech to join up with the Chelsea squad sooner than expected, seemingly keen on smooth integration into Frank Lampard’s side.
Unfortunately, the 27-year-old suffered an early setback before the start of the season, with an injury in the West Londoners only pre-season game at Brighton & Hove Albion preventing him from featuring in the club’s first few games of 20/21.
Upon his return, however, the Wizard of Amsterdam has begun to justify his nickname with a series of solid showings in the Premier League, with a majestic performance vs Sheffield United a major highlight thus far.
Sadly for the Ziyech, another injury struck against Leeds United in early December, ruling out the maverick for a few weeks and it remains to be seen whether he’ll feature again this year.
Ziyech: Any transfer rumours?
Definitely not. Having just signed for the Blues, only a disastrous turn of events on and off the pitch will lead to transfer links away from the club.
Ziyech: One big ambition for 2021
Certainly for the playmaker to stay fit in Chelsea’s quest to close the gap on defending champions Liverpool in the PL, challenge in the latter stages of the FA Cup and, most importantly, compete better in the Champions League after failing to progress beyond the first knockout round since 2013/14.
Lampard’s side look a more threatening force with Ziyech in the team and the former Ajax man has been the most impressive of the club’s attacking arrivals this summer.
Ziyech: One big fear for 2021
In a congested season with several fixtures crammed into the calendar, the badly-timed niggling injuries to the playmaker could continue to hamper Chelsea’s chances of reining in Liverpool and improving in Europe.
With Timo Werner struggling for form and Kai Havertz still adapting to the English game, the North African’s absence at key times could slow the Blues down.
Failure to end in the top four — the competition looks really tight this season — will be a disaster for Lampard who was backed in the summer window and will bring up doubts over the 21/22 campaign.
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