Chelsea’s managerial merry go round has many victims. The obvious one is the manager that gets fired. The less obvious is the player that manager specifically targeted that suddenly has no place in the new regime. Chelsea’s gotten better (or at least, very good) about getting managers that fit one another over time, but there are still those that fall through the cracks.
Juan Mata is perhaps the most famous case. Player of the year two years in a row, Mata was a statistical monster the likes of which Chelsea hasn’t really seen. But then Jose Mourinho came in, decided Mata didn’t track back enough, and suddenly the loveable Spanish creator was a Manchester United player.
Mata is not the only left footed creator that has struggled with Chelsea switching horses midstream. Hakim Ziyech was fantastic under Frank Lampard, but Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea has no place for him. A split, as rumored, makes sense for everyone.
Unlike the poorly sourced Attila Szalai rumor, Bild (not to be confused with Sports Bild) saying a German club (in this case Dortmund) wants Ziyech is likely more fact than fiction. Things have not been going well for the Moroccan in recent months and his situation will only get worse as more players return to fitness. Dortmund would offer a clear escape.
Ziyech was signed early for Frank Lampard, and he was a clear reflection of Lampard’s tactics. Lampard encouraged his sides to make riskier passes and take riskier shots in the final third and that’s Ziyech to a T. Thomas Tuchel, however, prefers his sides be more controlled. Risk and the rewards that come from it have their place but they need to be far more minimized than Ziyech offers. Ziyech has plummeted down the depth chart due to poor form and injuries and there really is no avenue forward for him with Tuchel.
It’s hard to tell if the league is a bad fit as well. It’s unusual for any player to stay in the Eredivisie as long as Ziyech did. Though he did play well while Lampard was in charge, the overall sample is rather small to make any concrete judgement. What is clear is that it isn’t working with Tuchel and that’s not showing any sign of changing.
A loan, most likely with an option to buy, just makes sense for everyone. Chelsea gets to clear up their forward congestion by offloading a player that doesn’t really fit. Dortmund gets a player that will likely find an easier route to minutes on the field and who should, in theory, fit the league. Ziyech gets to go somewhere that he is likely to play and can use his high risk, high reward talents more easily.
Ziyech is partially a victim of the circumstances that have occurred since joining Chelsea, but even aside from that he hasn’t fit in well. Dortmund could offer him and Chelsea the out that they all need. If the interest is serious, it’s very hard to say no to.