Revealed: Why Thomas Tuchel Is Happy To Offload Hakim Ziyech To AC Milan

Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel is ready to sell Hakim Ziyech this summer amid interest from AC Milan and his reasons have been revealed. 

The 29-year-old joined Chelsea from AFC Ajax in the summer of 2020 after penning a pre-contract with the Blues, then managed by Frank Lampard.

Ziyech has gone on to make 83 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 14 goals and registering just 10 assists. 

The Morocco international has struggled with injuries which has seen him in and out of the side, not helped by the fierce competition for places in the attack in west London. 

Ziyech’s future, along with several other attackers, is hanging in the balance this summer and heavy interest has been shown from Italy and AC Milan

Discussions have been held between the two clubs, and with Ziyech over personal terms and he would be ready to leave the Blues for the San Siro.

If he made the switch, he would join former Chelsea duo Fikayo Tomori and Olivier Giroud at the Scudetto champions. 

It has been reported by the Daily Mail that Chelsea could accept as little as £8.4 million for the winger this summer, however it would require Ziyech to take a pay-cut to make the switch happen. 

But it has now been revealed why Tuchel is willing to allow Ziyech to leave after just two seasons, and with three years remaining on his current contract. 

It is claimed that the Chelsea head coach believes Ziyech is not disciplined enough tactically which is a key part in why they are happy to give him the green light to leave.

AC Milan are also reported to have concerns of their own, but they are not major enough to end their pursuit of the Chelsea star. 

Tuchel warned at the end of last season that attackers may be signed this summer and his threat came true following the arrival of Raheem Sterling from Manchester City. 

Romelu Lukaku has departed, and despite the failure to sign Raphinha who joined Barcelona, another attacker is being eyed by the Blues. 

“If we stick to the group then we will try to solve it with these players,” Tuchel said in May. 

|Is it necessary to bring more offensive players around the box to create more distractions, to create more space for each other? We will ask that question. Can we do better in the structure? Can we push the players more? Did we rotate too much? Let’s see.

“There are a lot of options. The numbers we produce from our offensive players don’t allow us to over-perform and we need over-performance if we want to be nearer to the top two teams.

"I am not pointing fingers, I am not blaming anybody, but we need over-performance from everybody. It’s not over-performance if we have only single figures in scoring and assisting.”