“He is not having a good time”- Rafael van der Vaart urges 29-year-old star to leave Chelsea

Rafael van der Vaart hopes Hakim Ziyech leaves Chelsea for the good of his career

Speaking to Ziggo Sport (h/t Metro), former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Rafael van der Vaart hopes that out-of-favour Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech leaves the club for the good of his career.

The Morocco international has struggled to make his name at Chelsea since joining them in the summer of 2020. He failed to become a regular starter under two managers Frank Lampard and Thomas Tuchel.

Now, with the new manager Graham Potter in charge since last week, we have to wait and watch if the player gets more minutes compared to the past.

Talking about Ziyech, here’s van der Vaart (h/t Metro):

“Of course, he never really has a smiley face, but now you can see from everything that he is not having a good time.

I hope he goes to a club where he can just play and not worry about anything else. Ziyech is a boy that always has to play when you get him.

When you get players, you buy them not only for their footballing qualities but also for how someone is.”

The 29-year-old has scored just six goals and assisted six in 48 Premier League appearances for Chelsea. This is his third season at Stamford Bridge. The winger is yet to start a game out of the eight played by the club this season.

Ziyech came on for the final 10 minutes in Potter’s game in charge against RB Salzburg on Wednesday. Van der Vaart feels the cameo from the Moroccan was further proof that he is not happy in west London.

Looking back at his Ajax days, the SC Heerenveen youth product is not even half of how good he used to be in Amsterdam. In his last two seasons there, he scored 22 goals and assisted 30 in 50 Eredivisie appearances. That is in such contrast to what he has produced at Chelsea.

As per Football.London, Ziyech was keen on moving away from Chelsea in the summer, but nothing materialised. It would be interesting to see how it goes for him under Potter and whether a departure is on the cards in the January window.

The 29-year-old still has a contract at Stamford Bridge until 2025, having signed for £33.3m in 2020. So, any club approaching to sign him would need to fork some money out.

More Chelsea News:

• Graham Potter explains why he used Raheem Sterling as a wing-back in Chelsea vs RB Salzburg
• Graham Potter wants to sign Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane
• Gary Neville calls for an end to US investment in English football following suggestions by Chelsea owner Todd Boehly

It remains to be seen, however, if Potter makes use of Ziyech. If the Englishman can get the best out of the former Ajax man, then Ziyech could be like a new signing for us going forward.