Hakim Ziyech’s move to Al Nassr thrown in doubt — reports

Chelsea have completed the deals for Kalidou Koulibaly and Édouard Mendy in quick order with Al Hilal and Al Ahli, respectively, earlier this week, but Hakim Ziyech’s move to fellow Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr seems to be lagging behind.

Unfortunately, it sounds like there may be good reason for that, with various reports today speaking of the team “turning away” from the deal, either for good or at least temporarily until further notice.

Reports from France claim that it’s due to an issue uncovered during the medical, perhaps the same exact thing that caused the initial delay in his proposed move to PSG in January — which of course later failed due to documents not getting signed and sent in time.

It should be noted that N’Golo Kanté’s free transfer to Al Ittihad was delayed briefly due to a fitness concern as well, so this doesn’t necessarily mean that Ziyech’s deal is gone ... though it would be rather unfortunate if he’d see two consecutive departure attempts from Chelsea collapse at the final hurdle.