Chelsea finally set to unload outcast winger after multiple failed moves

Chelsea’s new era under Mauricio Pochettino has seen a lot of players signed in the last few years leave the club as new, and usually, younger players, are brought in. As The Top Flight has previously covered, the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi are all left without squad numbers at Chelsea as the club seeks to sell the players permanently.

Hakim Ziyech, in particular, could’ve been gone already on two separate occasions. In January 2023, he was close to a move to Paris Saint-Germain that fell through because documents weren’t submitted on time. Then this summer, Ziyech’s move to Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr broke down after he failed his medical. Now, the Moroccan winger looks set to leave the club finally.

Fabrizio Romano is reporting that Chelsea has verbally agreed to deal with Galatasaray for the transfer of Hakim Ziyech. A transfer fee has yet to be reported. There are still other details of the transfer that need to be worked out before everything is official. Reports out of Turkey suggest that Hakim Ziyech has already passed his medical with Galatasaray, which could’ve been a massive stumbling block given what happened with Al Nassr.

Ziyech leaves Chelsea having played 107 matches for the club across three years. He joined Chelsea after leaving a massive legacy with Ajax, where he helped the club reached the Champions League final during the 2018-19 UCL campaign. At the time, Hakim Ziyech was just the second Morrocan to win the Champions League when he won it with Chelsea in 2021. After a falling out with Morocco manager Vahid Halilhodzic Ziyech briefly did not play for his country until Halilhodzic was sacked last year, prompting Ziyech to play in the World Cup in Qatar.

Ziyech will join the likes of Wilfried Zaha, Dries Mertens and Mauro Icardi on a start-studded Turkish side.