Kaveh Solhekol says Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma are unable to pay the £100k-a-week in wages for Chelsea playmaker, Hakim Ziyech, in a possible transfer boost for Aston Villa and Newcastle United.
Unai Emery is looking to add some much-needed attacking quality to his Villa squad, whilst Eddie Howe will want to bolster his thriving Newcastle team in their Champions League push.
With Ziyech available to possibly head for the Stamford Bridge exit door before next Tuesday’s deadline, Newcastle have expressed an interest to sign the £25m Morocco star.
Villa are three points off the European places and should also be busy during these last few days, as Ziyech is also on Unai Emery’s ‘radar’.
After an outstanding World Cup, Ziyech has brought that form back to Chelsea, but despite that, the club have still purchased big-money signings such as Joao Felix, Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke.
That surely means that Ziyech’s game time will reduce and Solhekol thinks he could be one of the ‘main’ talking points for an exit, as he told The Transfer Show on Sky Sports.
“Quite a lot of interest in a few of their players,” said Solhekol. “One of the main ones is Hakim Ziyech.
“Sky Italy have been telling us that Roma have been holding talks with Ziyech’s representatives. The only issue is that Hakim Ziyech is on around £100k-a-week. Roma can’t stretch to paying those kinds of wages for him.”
ZIYECH WOULD BE A TOP PURCHASE FOR VILLA
In terms of being a starter, Ziyech would earn more minutes at Villa than he would at Newcastle because of their current position.
At St James’ Park, he would help boost their bench and bring that Champions League experience to a team trying to get alongside the elite once more.
But the technically-gifted playmaker would be an outstanding purchase if he were to move to the Midlands and help elevate an attack that needs more spice, as well as help the club in their European push.