It’s clear that Hakim Ziyech is an important player for the Blues these days, playing more and more under Thomas Tuchel.
His three goals in a row in January and February were testament to that, and the Morocco international looks set to continue at Stamford Bridge beyond the current campaign unless something changes in the next few months.
While his future at club level doesn’t appear to be in the air, the situation isn’t quite the same with the Morocco national team, which he has pulled out of.
The Chelsea forward has fallen out with his manager there, Vahid Halilhodzic, for some time now, and while he was called up for the latest international break, he declined due to his strained relationship with the man in charge.
Morocco have since qualified for the 2022 World Cup, which, while a great achievement in itself, is a tournament the Moroccan FA would like Chelsea’s Ziyech and Noussair Mazraoui (who also declined the call-up) to take part in.
That seems almost impossible with Halilhodzic still in charge, and Foot Mercato are suggesting that the manager could be sacked if he can’t make peace with his players.
The French website explain that a ‘final meeting is planned in the next few days’ between the Moroccan FA president Faouzi Lekjaa and the two players to ‘try once and for all to appease tensions’, but should that fail, ‘those in charge of the Morocco national team will decide to part ways’ with the manager.
And just to get an idea of where everything is currently at, Foot Mercato explain the ‘last exchanges’ between parties point towards the latter.
That’s not an ideal situation so close to a World Cup, with just six games to prepare for it, but the likes of Claude Puel, Rudi Garcia and Laurent Blanc are all being looked at to potentially take over on short notice.
Something to keep an eye on, but it’s clear the Chelsea star’s status for the Morocco national team is important.
