Chelsea already have one signing secured for this summer – Hakim Ziyech of Ajax.
The winger is arriving as soon as this season is finished, and he’s had since February to prepare himself
One of his future Premier League colleagues (assuming Aston Villa stay up, that is) was asked about him last week and commented that he might want to hit the gym before coming to the Premier League, but has now back-tracked:
“It was a joke anyway. Ziyech has his qualities and he shouldn’t have to be physical. He’s agile and can move well, because he’s so thin. Going to the gym doesn’t mean going to Basic Fit to become a powerhouse,” said Villa forward Anwar El Ghazi in an interview in VoetbalPrimeur.
Ziyech certainly has a skinny, wiry frame, but he also has the technical skill to make that irrelevant. He certainly didn’t have any trouble coming up against physical teams in the Champions League last season when Ajax got all the way to the semi finals.
Still, a little muscle wouldn’t hurt when you’re up against the likes of Burnley (though that didn’t stop scrawny Christian Pulisic scoring a hattrick against them) – so let’s hope Hakim has at least bought some dumbells for his home gym.
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“Football in England changed with that Southampton team of 2013-14, there is no other team that had as big an impact in changing the mindset.” – Who modestly said this about their own side? Find out here.
