Tottenham are eyeing a surprising, late move to sign Chelsea attacker Hakim Ziyech with the Morocco international struggling to start for the Blues – a player that Rafael van der Vaart wanted Spurs to sign before his move to the Blues.
Ziyech, 29, has only managed one appearance for Chelsea this season. He was an unused substitute against Everton and Tottenham, coming on for the last 30 minutes in the 3-0 loss to Leeds. He has a contact until June 2025.
But in his two years at Chelsea, he has struggled to hit the heights that he showed at Ajax. Playing 84 times, he has only managed 14 goals and 10 assists. A far cry from his 130 goal involvements in 165 games for Dutch giants Ajax.
Reports say Tottenham are planning to enter talks with Chelsea over a move for £8.4m-rated Ziyech later this week. Tottneham icon van der Vaart believes Ziyech would have blossomed, as he not done at Chelsea, if he joined Spurs.
“In retrospect it’s easy, but I think it (moving to Chelsea) was the wrong choice. I hope he will fully blossom, but if he had gone to Tottenham, for example,” van der Vaart told Ziggo in 2021 – as per SI. “It was a pity he went to Chelsea.”
Tottenham eyeing Ziyech: van der Vaart wanted Spurs to sign player
Would a move to Tottenham improve his chances of game time? At Chelsea, he finds the likes of Kai Havertz, Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic in his way. He might get a go in the Cups, and the odd sub outing.
At Tottenham, would those minutes go up? Well he certainly would not start in the Premier League. Son Heung-min and Harry Kane are the first names on the team sheet. Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski are battling it out on the right.
But Spurs do lack immediate cover for Ziyech, and also want an attacking midfielder. The chances are he would start in the Champions League and get more game time in the Premier League. But it is hardly a major improvement.
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