Chelsea have immediate £30m transfer question after 2022 World Cup

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Chelsea had 12 players join up with their respective nations for the 2022 World Cup and Hakim Ziyech was arguably the best of the lot on show in Qatar. The Morocco international has struggled for minutes at Chelsea ever since Graham Potter took over Thomas Tuchel.

And he was put up for sale this past summer with Chelsea asking for a fee in the region of £30million. Ziyech ended up staying, but he’s played just 32 minutes of Premier League football since Potter came in.

The 29-year-old was failed to live up to expectations at Stamford Bridge since his move from Ajax in 2020. But Chelsea fans have been given a glimpse of what Ziyech can do on the international stage if he’s shown faith by the manager.

It was only a few months ago that Ziyech came out of international retirement after Morocco sacked Vahid Halilhodciz. And it’s a move that may have saved Ziyech’s career at Chelsea given his heroics for Morocco in Qatar.

He played a huge part in Morocco topping their group, providing an assist in the 2-0 win over Belgium and scoring against Canada. Ziyech then played a selfless role in the shock win over Spain in the last-16 tie and was once again sacrificing his attacking play for the team against Portugal in their quarter-final.

It now gives Potter a decision to make when all his players return to London when the Premier League season gets back underway on Boxing Day. Ziyech offers the Chelsea boss something different to what he has and Potter will need to try another plan after the World Cup.

Chelsea picked up just two points from their last five league matches before the start of the World Cup. It’s left them down in eighth in the table with just six wins from their opening 14 games.

But Chelsea are also heading into the January transfer window looking to do more business and cashing in on Ziyech after his World Cup heroics could also be tempting. Ziyech’s stock has never been higher following his displays in Qatar and, with two-and-a-half years still left on his contract, Chelsea can still command a decent fee.

They’ll unlikely drop their asking price from the summer by much, but Ziyech will likely attract plenty of interest in the market. If Chelsea get a fee in the region of £30m for Ziyech then that money could be spent on elsewhere in Potter’s first transfer window.

It’s a big decision for Potter to make – likely the first of many he faces in the next few weeks.

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