Spurs’ Premier League rivals Chelsea have won the race to sign Ajax’s Eredivisie talisman Hakim Ziyech; will Jose Mourinho rue missing out?
Tottenham Hotspur legend Rafael Van der Vaart has described their failure to beat Chelsea to Hakim Ziyech’s £33 million signature as sheer ‘stupidity’, while speaking to Championnat.
One of the most creative and influential midfielders anywhere in European football is on his way to London. But it isn’t Spurs who are signing a player who was constantly linked with a move to the club during the reign of Mauricio Pochettino.
At the start of February, Tottenham’s bitter rivals Chelsea confirmed a deal to bring Ziyech to Stamford Bridge at the end of the campaign with the Ajax talisman setting the Blues back a bargain £33 million.
Given that Jose Mourinho’s side looked worryingly short of creativity and cutting edge in successive defeats to Chelsea and RB Leipzig, Van der Vaart can’t understand why his former employers didn’t go all out for Ziyech in the post-Christian Eriksen era.
“Some kind of stupidity!” Van der Vaart quipped.
“I really like this footballer. He succeeds in everything – both to create and to score. Watching him is a pleasure.”
This is not the first time a former Holland international has suggested that Ziyech would be the perfect addition for last season’s Champions League runners-up and, should a Moroccan play-maker with a wand of a left-foot replicate his glorious Ajax displays at Chelsea, Tottenham fans might soon be sharing Van der Vaart’s view.
Ziyech has produced a remarkable 21 assists in all competitions this season, just three short of last year’s tally.
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