Chelsea manager Graham Potter has denied Hakim Ziyech the chance to exhibit his ability to suitors AC Milan after leaving the creative midfielder out of the squad for the Champions League clash against the Serie A side. The Moroccan has found his match motion severely limited because the Englishman’s arrival together with his absence from the group in Italy the most recent setback for the player.
Potter later noted in his pre-match conference that the previous Ajax man had been battling illness. There have been high hopes for Ziyech when he arrived at Stamford Bridge in 2020 after a series of impressive performances within the Eredivisie. Nonetheless, the £38.5million man has didn’t impress during his two-year stint within the English capital, scoring just 14 times and contributing an extra 10 assists in 88 appearances.
Most of his time has been spent on the bench together with his match time much more limited under Potter than it was in the times before Thomas Tuchel’s departure. He has played just quarter-hour because the Englishman’s arrival from Brighton last month with the most recent coming as a brief cameo against Wolves this weekend when the Blues were already leading 3-0.
Because of this, the 29-year-old has set his sights on a move away with former club Ajax among the many clubs credited with an interest throughout the summer transfer window. Yet, the strongest links were to Milan, with Tuesday night’s match on the San Siro posing the right opportunity for the player to make an impression on his potential suitors.
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Explaining the club’s injury situation, Potter said: “Hakim is in poor health, N’Golo we’re just waiting. He had a response in training, so we’re just waiting for the news on that. Hakim has a sore throat, that is why he didn’t travel.
“Everyone is obtainable aside from the fellows we have mentioned. The very fact we could rotate a couple of has probably helped us when it comes to availability for this game and, hopefully, a little bit of freshness because we will need that. It will be a tricky match, a very physically demanding game.”
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