Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech is closer to joining AC Milan after the player put the Italian club as his first-choice summer destination option, according to Calciomercato.
The 29-year-old still has three years left in his contract at Stamford Bridge, and while he still had more minutes than the likes of Christian Pulisic and Timo Werner under Thomas Tuchel last season, he still struggled for game time.
This is obviously not what he initially expected when he joined the club under Frank Lampard in 2020.
Tuchel’s preference for a 3-4-3 system at Chelsea might have also played a part in Ziyech’s reported desire to leave the club.
The German tactician himself previously admitted that Ziyech is at his best in a wide attacking role in a 4-1-4-1 formation, which obviously does not exist in the 3-4-3.
Therefore, it is hardly a surprise that the former Ajax ace is one of the players Chelsea reportedly want to offload this summer, particularly given Tuchel’s reported plan to sign two new attackers.
Based on the report, Zieych is close to joining the Serie A champions.
Calciomercato claims that Ziyech has already said “yes” to the potential move to Milan, and the Italian club directors have restarted talks with Chelsea.
An earlier report from the publication also mentioned that Milan are hoping to secure a season-long loan deal with an obligation to buy.
There is still a slight difference in terms of the potential buy clause, however.
The report mentions that Milan are offering €25million (£21.5m) while Chelsea are looking for €30m (£25.8m), which is still below the £33.3m Chelsea paid Ajax a couple of years ago (per Sky Sports).
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