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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Nizaar Kinsella

Chelsea face transfer dilemma over resurgent Hakim Ziyech as interest mounts

Chelsea are receiving increased interest in Hakim Ziyech following his return to form.

Roma made contract with Ziyech’s representatives over the weekend and Jose Mourinho is keen on a move for the winger if he loses reported Tottenham target Nicolo Zaniolo this month.

Newcastle and Everton have also expressed interest in Ziyech. Chelsea need to trim their bloated squad but Graham Potter faces a dilemma over whether to offload the Morocco international given his recent good form.

Ziyech set up the winner in the recent 1-0 win over Crystal Palace and was excellent in Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Liverpool at Anfield.

Chelsea need to offload players this month to reduce the size of their squad after spending close to £450million on 15 new players since Todd Boehly and Clearlake completed their takeover at Stamford Bridge last summer.

(Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

The Blues completed the £29m signing of PSV winger Noni Madueke on Friday. The 20-year-old is the sixth new arrival this month.

Conor Gallagher and Trevoh Chalobah are attracting interest over potential loan moves. But both players are considered too important to let go and Chelsea have knocked back an approach from Inter Milan for Chalobah, while Crystal Palace saw efforts to re-sign Gallagher rejected.

Chelsea are also weighing up options for new signings Gabriel Slonina, Omari Hutchinson and Cesare Casadei to leave on loan, with Championship exits preferred. Recent debutant Bashir Humphreys is also considering a temporary move.

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