Hakim Ziyech’s confirmed transfer to Chelsea has sparked debate on social media among some Tottenham fans, who ponder whether the club missed a trick by not securing the Ajax attacker.
Chelsea have confirmed that the club have reached an agreement with Ajax over the signing of Moroccan international. Confirmation of the 26-year-old’s move to Chelsea has produced a debate among some Tottenham fans on social media around whether Spurs should have done more to secure the Ajax attacker’s signature for themselves.
Former Spurs midfielder Rafael van der Vaart had previously recommended Ziyech as a potential signing to his former club. However, despite Van der Vaart’s efforts, Spurs focused their attention elsewhere in the most recent January transfer window, bringing in Steven Bergwijn and Gedson Fernandes, while offloading wantaway playmaker Christian Eriksen.
Read the reactions of some Tottenham fans to the completion of Ziyech’s Chelsea move in the tweets below.
Gutted we didn't move for Hakim Ziyech in all honesty. After Van der Vaart tapped him up for us, it felt like it was somewhat on the cards in a weird way.
That being said, @StevenBergwijn is a similar player and he's proper COYS already. *Does Bergwijn celebration* #COYS pic.twitter.com/MPdXNUpqHU
— Talking THFC (@TalkingTHFC) February 13, 2020
Why aren’t we doing similar deals so that they’re in place for a full pre season ? ….. Or will it be one minute from midnight to save a few quid as usual
— Zenski (@Zenski3) February 13, 2020
They have got an absolute bargain there too. So have we to be fair.
— ??Gareth McCarter ??? (@g2mcc) February 13, 2020
So sad we didnt get Ziyech..
— Imbibitor Lunae (@Kurisunanda) February 13, 2020
https://twitter.com/_TheRealMaximus/status/1227943817266987018
https://twitter.com/notsospursy10/status/1227962077748367362
Ziyech will end up being like the next Hazard… big mistake here by Spurs
— ?? (@fuscru) February 13, 2020
https://twitter.com/ShaunLewis17/status/1227936941808771072
What do we think?
Spurs ultimately looked past Ziyech when finding a replacement for Eriksen’s role of a creator in the team. Chelsea will undoubtedly be getting an attacker who has shown his playmaking ability consistently over the course of this season in the Eredivisie. Ziyech has made a total of 12 assists so far in the 2019/20 campaign. Only his Ajax teammate Dusan Tadic has provided more Eredivisie assists than Ziyech this season.
However, Spurs did complete the signing of one Eredivisie playmaker this January in the form of Dutch attacker Steven Bergwijn. The signing of Bergwijn over Ziyech may prove to be a stroke of excellence in the transfer market. At 22 years old, Bergwijn is currently four years younger than Chelsea’s impending new arrival.
Furthermore, playing with PSV this season, Bergwijn contributed just two fewer assists and scored one less goal than Ziyech so far in the 2019/20 campaign. Scoring his first Spurs goal on his debut versus Manchester City, Bergwijn may have earned himself some time to prove himself as a better signing in the long run.