AC Milan ‘confident’ of signing Hakim Ziyech from Chelsea — report

Hakim Ziyech is one of the over dozen players back at Chelsea on the first day of preseason today, but his time in a Blue shirt may be coming to an end. The 29-year-old has been steadily linked with AC Milan over the past few weeks, and the Italian champions are confident about their chances of acquiring him this summer.

Sky’s situation report claims that the Rossoneri have made “new contact” and are “confident they will be able to finalise a deal” to make him a new addition to their squad. The report makes it sound like this might actually be a transfer rather than just a loan, unlike previously stipulated, though Ziyech’s wage demands could still be a problem. (And the transfer fee wouldn’t be small either with three years left on his contract.)

Ziyech has failed to carve a consistent starting role at Chelsea since joining two years ago, and while he has had injuries to deal with, it’s probably fair to say that he has not lived up to his billing as “The Wizard of AMS”. With Chelsea ready to rebuild, having him move on now could be beneficial for all.