Arsenal reportedly wanted to bring Hakim Ziyech to the Premier League when Eredivisie champions Ajax made him available for just £25m.
Just two days after Nicolas Pepe produced a performance a £7.2 million winger would be disappointed with, let alone a £72 million one, another left-footed forward who spent the summer being relentlessly linked with Arsenal produced one of the best Champions League goals you’ll see all season.
Hakim Ziyech has always had an eye for the spectacular, going back to his formative years as the talisman of FC Twente, but his swerving, long-range rocket in Ajax’s 3-0 obliteration of Valencia was special, even by his standards.
After inspiring Ajax to the league and cup double last season, not to mention the Champions League semi-finals, this magisterial Moroccan has picked up where he left off with five goals and seven assists already in 2019/20.
He nearly scored an even better effort in the second half too, rattling the Valencia crossbar with another 25-yard thunderbolt.
Why none of Europe’s big guns took a punt on Ziyech, who was apparently available for just £25 million and linked with The Gunners via The Mirror, is anyone’s guess. It’s certainly a question Arsenal fans are demanding an answer to after yet another masterclass from one of the continent’s most underrated playmakers.
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