As Newcastle begin their search to replace Chris Wood, transfer guru, Graeme Bailey has written for 90min that they could be ready to make a loan deal for Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech until the end of the season.
It was recently reported that Newcastle were casting their eye over three Chelsea players this month: Hakim Ziyech, Conor Gallagher and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, now Graeme Bailey believes that if the right deal can be reached, Newcastle will “pull the trigger” on a deal for the Moroccan forward.
Ziyech has found game time hard to come by under Graeme Potter at Chelsea, but did have a fantastic World Cup with Morocco as they finished fourth in the tournament. Ziyech was a key figure in their surprise assault on the competition.
The 29-year-old forward joined Chelsea from Ajax in 2020 for an initial €40m and has made 55 appearances for the Blues, scoring six goals in the process. While on paper, that doesn’t seem like a great goal return (especially as Chris Wood managed 4 goals in 35 appearances for Newcastle), Ziyech isn’t an out-and-out striker, he can be seen as more of a playmaker than a goalscorer.
That means that it’s not a direct replacement for Chris Wood and Newcastle could still find themselves shopping around even if a deal can be reached for Ziyech.