Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 3:31 PM• Rian Rosendaal

Chelsea would be willing to let Hakim Ziyech go again after one season. ASH knows to report that the attacking midfielder may be used by the London club in a deal with Sevilla for center-back Jules Koundé. Thomas Tuchel is eager to strengthen the heart of his defense and the French man is said to be very high on Chelsea’s list.

The aforementioned Spanish newspaper reports that in addition to Ziyech, Tammy Abraham, Michy Batshuayi, Tiémoué Bakayoko and goalkeeper Kepa are also nominated to be involved in a trade deal with Sevilla. In addition to sacrificing one of these players want the Blues reserve a sum of money to facilitate the arrival of Koundé, who is still scheduled for more than three seasons in Spain. Whether the deal will be finalized in the short term remains to be seen, however, as the 22-year-old defender has an eighty-million-euro escape clause in his current commitment, an amount that appears to be too much for many clubs during the corona pandemic.

Attracting a reliable and physically strong center-back has been a wish of the Chelsea leadership for some time. Until recently, the technical management also had David Alaba in their sights, but the arrival of the multifunctional defender of Bayern Münchens has now put a line in West London. Real Madrid seems to have the best papers to pick up Alaba in Germany on a free transfer this summer. The Royal has also been associated with Koundé, as has Manchester United, among others. City rivals Manchester City was in the market for the Sevilla stopper last year, but in the end manager Josep Guardiola chose Rúben Dias and Nathan Aké.

It is not the first time that Ziyech has been mentioned as a possible asset to Seville. The Spanish club was very concrete in mid-2019, after the top season of the midfielder with Ajax in the Champions League. However, that did not lead to a transfer to LaLiga. “Sevilla was concrete last summer. Absolutely a great club, but there was a technical director around (Monchi, ed.), Who wanted to bring me to AS Roma a year earlier. Everything was almost complete, until he was no longer involved. And then I had to come to his club now. Not so, watch it, I will not let myself be beeped “, it sounded in January 2020 in an interview with the Algemeen Dagblad.