Report: Spurs discussing move for Hakim Ziyech

Did you have “shock Tottenham Hotspur rumor for Hakim Ziyech” on your summer transfer window Bingo card? Because I didn’t, but I’m also opposed to it either. Dutch outlet AD is reporting today that Tottenham are considering a move for the 29 year old Netherlands international and attacking midfielder.

Huh!

But wait, you say, Chelsea doesn’t sell players to Tottenham. And you’d be right — they don’t! The last player to move directly from Chelsea to Spurs was Carlo Cudicini in 2009, and that was on a free transfer. But here’s the thing — there’s a new sheriff in town. Chelsea owner Todd Boehly doesn’t have the baggage with Spurs that the ownership group under Roman Abramovich did, and Boehly has also turned over a lot of the administrative staff there since taking over. There’s actually a distinct possibility that, if the player wants out of west London and desires a move to NORTH London that something could happen, mostly because money is fungible and can be exchanged for goods and services.

AD says that Ziyech wants to leave Chelsea and was exploring the possibility of returning to Ajax last week, and that Spurs “are looking to discuss a move” for him in London this week. That’s pretty much all there is — nothing about potential price, Chelsea’s willingness to sell, or anything. So keep that in mind too.

Gotta say, I don’t hate this. Ziyech is 29 now so it’s another win-now kind of signing and would presumably be who Tottenham would bring in to replace Bryan Gil’s roster slot. Ziyech can play across the attacking midfield band and is a good player. He would fit the need of a dribbly, creative attacking player in the same way that Ruslan Malinovskyi does. He’s not a prolific scorer, but he had a npxG+xA/90 of 0.48 in 1300 minutes for Chelsea last season, pretty respectable.

Malinovskyi would be cheaper and has a better outside shot than Ziyech, but honestly I’d take either one on a short term contract or even a loan. I can’t really vouch for the source — the article is in Dutch and it’s not De Telegraaf — so we should always be skeptical. But if we look at this from a “would I be upset if this happened” angle? No, no I would not be upset. Good player at the right price, and the Chelsea stink washes right off with a little soap and sunshine.