Netherlands legend Marco van Basten says it is ‘sad and a shame’ that Hakim Ziyech is still struggling to establish himself at Chelsea.
The Moroccan international has failed to establish himself as a key player at Stamford Bridge since a €40m move from Ajax in July 2020.
These struggles started under Frank Lampard but continued under his successor Thomas Tuchel, with the forward playing a bit part role under the German during his time in charge.
That is yet to turn around under Graham Potter, who has so far handed Ziyech just eight minutes of football since his arrival as Chelsea boss last month.
It’s a sorry situation for the player, who was the undisputed star of the show during his time at Ajax and will want to be in good form ahead of the World Cup, especially with Morocco in Group F alongside Croatia, Belgium and Canada.
His lack of minutes continued in Chelsea’s 3-0 win over AC Milan last night, something Van Basten was sorry to see.
“Yes, it’s sad and a shame,” Voetbal Zone report him saying about the Chelsea player’s situation.
“Ziyech is a great player. We need to see someone like that, for such a player we watch TV and come to the stadium.
“It is a shame for the whole of football that he is on the bench. If players like this don’t get minutes, it’s not good for football.
“There should actually be a rule that clubs can only have a certain number of players. So, they (Chelsea) have far too many and that actually makes football less interesting.
“A player like Ziyech would just play at another club and entertain the spectators. Soon there are teams that have 35 players, five or six of whom never play. These could excel at other clubs.”
