Hakim Ziyech asks to leave Chelsea, AC Milan working to make it happen — reports

Hakim Ziyech came to Chelsea billed as “The Wizard of AMS” but his two years at Stamford Bridge have been magical only it bits and spurts. The 29-year-old has had more than his fair share of injuries, often quite poorly timed, but even when healthy, he’s not quite managed to nail down a consistent starting spot. The few solid runs he has gotten in the team have been largely underwhelming.

His name has been mentioned for a few weeks now as one of the more likely to follow Romelu Lukaku out the exit door, and we now have a potential avenue for said exit, with AC Milan reportedly working on making it happen. Gianluca Di Marzio has gone so far as to claim that Ziyech has pretty much even put in a transfer request, and that there is a willingness on everyone’s part to work out the financial details (which might involve a pay cut, as in the case of Lukaku).

It might, unsurprisingly, also involve a loan with an option to buy, with a €6m loan fee getting mentioned in multiple reports, along with an option to buy at an unspecified amount. Chelsea paid €40m to Ajax in 2020, for whatever that’s worth at this point.