Holland legend Marco van Basten advises new Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag to sign Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech
Speaking during Ziggo Sport’s ‘Rondo’ show (h/t The Sun), where incoming new Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag was a guest, Holland legend Marco van Basten has advised him to make Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech one of his signings at his club.
Ziyech played under ten Hag during their time together at Ajax Amsterdam, where the pair managed to win the domestic double in the 2018/19 campaign. They also reached the semi-finals of the Champions League that term, getting knocked out by Tottenham Hotspur in the final minute of the tie.
van Basten, who won the European Championships with the Netherlands in 1988, urged ten Hag to reunite with Ziyech at United. The former player felt that the Moroccan forward already plays in England, so will settle in well at Old Trafford.
He currently has no starts in Chelsea’s last seven league games, showing how Tuchel has started to overlook him.
“What comes to my mind now is that I think Ziyech who already plays in England could be a very good footballer at Manchester United for Erik.”
Ziyech moved from Ajax to Chelsea in 2020, where he has thus far won the Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, and the Super Cup in the space of a year. However, he has not been a regular fixture in the team under manager Thomas Tuchel.
“Of course this was already the case at Ajax”
With ten Hag planning a squad rebuild at the Theatre of Dreams when he takes over, there may perhaps be a spot in his lineup for Ziyech given their prior relationship. However, this remains to be seen, given Chelsea’s sanctions that have been placed on them by the UK government.
Despite van Basten advocating for a summer move for Ziyech, ten Hag avoided the statement and remained coy on a potential transfer. Instead, the 52-year-old said that one needs to work well with the dressing room and the people within the club, in order to make the right choices.
“Of course this was already the case at Ajax. You take that in and then you have to continue to work well with the dressing room and with people within the club. You have to analyse well and make the right choices.
Despite not giving away too much about a move for Ziyech, the attack is an area that ten Hag needs to work on when he takes over the team at the end of the season. Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Anthony Elanga, Juan Mata, and Jesse Lingard have provided mixed results on the wing this campaign.
Rashford has looked a shadow of the player he once was, with his form taking a drastic dip since the 2020 Euros last summer. Meanwhile, Mata and Lingard have been used sparingly, and are set to depart at the end of the season when their contracts expire.
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Sancho and Elanga have been one of the brighter prospects on the flanks this term, with the former slowly coming to life in 2022 after a difficult start to life after his move to United last summer. Elanga has been the standout performer, rising through the ranks at the academy and establishing himself in the first team.
Ziyech could provide competition for the squad and also prove to be an upgrade on the current crop of options given their form, but it remains to be seen if Chelsea will sell to a direct rival. His performances for Ajax have been excellent under ten Hag, and if United ever manage to snap him up, the fans will hope that he is able to recreate that form.
