On Wednesday afternoon, several sources from the Dutch media broke the news Chelsea have reached an agreement for the signing of Hakim Ziyech from Ajax.
A few outlets, including De Telegraaf, claimed the Blues are signing the Oranje winger for a fee of around €45m.
For some, it was a little bit surprising to see claims of Chelsea getting the player for that amount, since he’s been impressing for a few years now, and his eight goals and 21 assists this season make it clear that he’s worth a lot.
However, there’s a reason Ziyech isn’t that expensive. That was revealed by De Telegraaf journalist Mike Verweij in a chat with Fox Sports (via Soccer News).
“A great transfer for Ziyech. A great club, and it’s also a transfer that was pushed by being the opponent in a match. At Chelsea away, he played unrivalled.”
Then he claimed the player had an agreement with Marc Overmars so Ajax would let him go for a reasonable fee in the next summer window.
“He arranged for Ziyech to stay in Amsterdam for another year, and it was agreed that he would be allowed to leave for a reasonably normal price. He had a set transfer fee of €30m. Overmars then removed that clause. Now he grabs €15m profit in exchange for a €5m salary.”
Everyone wins? It sounds very much to be the case.
