AC Milan are pushing hard to sign Hakim Ziyech from Chelsea in the January transfer window following his impressive work for Morocco at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
The attacking midfielder has been linked with the Rossoneri since last summer when the club were trying to decide who they should sign to bring more quality to the attacking quartet.
In the end, directors Paolo Maldini and Frederic Massara decided to spend the money on Charles De Ketelaere from Club Brugges and settle for a rotation of Junior Messias and Alexis Saelemaekers on the right wing, rather than find a deal with Chelsea for Ziyech.
AC Milan plot January loan deal for Ziyech
The main stumbling block for Milan’s pursuit of Ziyech has always been the salary. He currently earns around €6 million per season in the Premier League and if he were to receive that from Milan, he would instantly become one of the club’s top earners.
Given the Moroccan has only played 202 minutes in all competitions this season under Thomas Tuchel and then Graham Potter, there is a belief that he can be paid less than his Chelsea salary in return for being an important player for a team that has qualified for the Champions League round of 16.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Maldini and Massara want to make Chelsea a serious offer in January and that will be a loan until the end of the season, with an option to make the deal permanent at the end of the campaign. The whole operation would cost Milan around €15 million if Chelsea accept their terms.
One major benefit for Milan is that Ziyech represents himself, so there are no agent commissions to pay, something that massively inflates the overall cost of many transfers in the modern game.
Chelsea paid €40 million for Ziyech from Ajax two years ago but the move has not worked for the 29-year-old.
Ziyech shows AC Milan his best against Belgium
Hakim Ziyech has not been able to show his best and force a prospective buying club’s hand this season, but he was extremely impressive against Belgium as the Moroccans won 2-0 in Qatar last Sunday.
The winger thought he had opened the scoring when his clever free-kick went right through the bodies and into the net, but Roman Saiss had been in front of the goalkeeper whilst offside.
Not to be perturbed though, Ziyech continued to look dangerous as Belgium floundered. His pinpoint cross-field passes are something that Milan would love to add to the team.
He set up Morocco’s second ball with a great run through the middle under pressure, before collecting the ball and finding a teammate in the box who smashed it into the roof of the net. Milan don’t have a player like Ziyech and he would give Stefano Pioli an important other option in the second half of the campaign.
