Zsolt Low hailed Hakim Ziyech ahead of the Club World Cup semi-final between Chelsea and Al Hilal.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, the assistant coach praised Ziyech’s recent uprising and hinted at a potential place in Wednesday’s XI.
A happier Hakim
The Moroccan has certainly shown vast signs of improvement in the past month or so.
After a very slow start to life in blue, the 28-year-old is only now really seeming to find his feet in the side.
He has featured in the last seven fixtures across all competitions, scoring three times in this period.
Ziyech was particularly impressive in the 2-0 Premier League home win against Tottenham Hotspur, where he collected one of the goals of the season so far.
Once something of an outcast under Thomas Tuchel, the £33.3m recruit from Ajax (Sky Sports) is currently very much part of the manager’s plans.
“He’s getting better and better. He’s in good shape, in good form. He’ll possibly start tomorrow,” said Low.
Plenty of choices for Tuchel to make
Tuchel won’t actually be attending the game in Abu Dhabi, as he continues to isolate after testing positive for covid.
But he will have seen more than enough of Ziyech recently to make a judgement call on the curious forward.
That decision might be to start him on the bench against Al Hilal, however, as he did play the full 120 minutes of the narrow FA Cup victory over Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.
Rotation could be the order of the day for Chelsea, as they welcome back Christian Pulisic and Thiago Silva, both of whom were away on international duty.
Mason Mount is also available, having previously been a doubt after coming off injured during the Plymouth match.
Low did confirm Reece James would not feature at all in the upcoming Club World Cup contest, despite traveling to the United Arab Emirates with the squad.
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