Chelsea could earn over £250,000 for Hakim Ziyech's participation in Qatar 2022 and the Moroccan international has been tipped to reach the final of the tournament in a staggering prediction made by former Blues striker Samuel Eto'o.
Ziyech hasn't been fancied under Graham Potter since he replaced Thomas Tuchel in September and the winger is angling for a move away from Stamford Bridge after his departure during the summer fell through. He is yet to score this season too.
Nevertheless, Ziyech is a star player for his country and has been reintegrated into the squad after falling out with previous manager Vahid Halilhodzic. Current boss Walid Regragui has already seen the moments of magic that he can provide after the 29-year-old scored from behind the halfway line in a preparation game against Georgia.
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Ziyech's ability to produce something out of nothing - though not often enough seen at SW6 - is what made him an electrifying player to witness at Ajax, and may be behind the reasoning of Eto'o. When asked to predict how the tournament would go, the former Barcelona, Inter Milan and Blues striker gave one of the most outlandish sets of results you'll likely see.
Not only did 2018 runners-up Croatia fail to get out of their group in Eto'o's mind, Iran are tipped to progress ahead of Wales and USA in England's group whilst Denmark, Serbia and Switzerland were also knocked out at the first hurdle.
As a player Eto'o scored 56 goals for Cameroon, including three at World Cups. He also won the African Cup of Nations twice too. His love of his nation is evident in his tournament predictions, with Cameroon tipped to reach the final, beating Ghana, Belgium and Senegal on the way to final.
In a surprise match-up, Morocco are also in the final on December 18 after bypassing Spain, Portugal and France. Qatar were also backed to get through a group with Senegal, Ecuador and Netherlands. The hosts beat England in the last 16 according to Eto'o and perhaps surprisingly lose to France in the quarter finals.
Cameroon end the tournament as winners, the first African side ever to do so, and all five of the African sides in the competition make it through to the knockout stages according to Eto'o, who scored 12 goals for Chelsea.
For Chelsea, they would benefit massively from Ziyech getting to the final, with £8,500 per player per day being paid to club sides as compensation for losing members to the mid-season tournament.
Eto'o's predictions would see a much smaller return on the best case monetary scenario though, with England out early. The Blues could bank £2.34m as a maximum.
In another sense, given the World Cup acts as a perfect shop window ahead of the January transfer market, if Ziyech does have a moment of brilliance it may help Chelsea to recoup some of the £30m they spent on him.
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