Chelsea flop makes SURPRISE U-turn on Saudi move

Tom Weber

• 10 Jul 2023 18:31 BST
• 3 min read

Hakim Ziyech has turned down Al-Nassr's contract offer after being asked to take a paycut, according to a report.

The Chelsea midfielder appeared to be another name on the long list of outgoings set to depart the Premier League for Saudi Arabia. Indeed, everything looked to be going smoothly until the 30-year-old had to do his medical.

The check-ups yielded some worrying results regarding the Moroccan's knee and hip, according to CBS Sports, which prompted Al-Nassr to renege on their original contract proposal.

They tried to lower the offered salary by as much as 40 per cent, while adding fitness-related clauses that, if fulfilled, could have still seen Ziyech earn the €15 million per season initially promised to the former Ajax star.

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Ziyech has formally rejected the offer after several days of deliberation, as per the above-mentioned report. This may not be the end of his relationship with Saudi Arabia, however.

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Signing for Al-Nassr would have seen Ziyech join Cristiano Ronaldo, but he could now instead reunite with former Chelsea teammate Edouard Mendy at Al-Ahli.

The report goes on to say that the Jeddah club could 'pick up the deal' with a similar structure to the one offered by Al-Nassr - unsurprising, seeing as though the two are both owned by Saudi's Public Investment Fund.

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If a deal were to materialise, Ziyech would become the latest Chelsea player in what is set to be a stacked Pro League. Besides Mendy, N'Golo Kante moved to reigning champions Al-Ittihad on a free transfer, while Kalidou Koulibaly departed for Al-Hilal.

The latter are now also closing in on Sergej Milinkovic-Savic of Lazio. The 28-year-old was reportedly offered to Chelsea last week by his agent and former Blues player Mateja Kezman. Al-Hilal have also been in talks with Romelu Lukaku over a potential move, but the Chelsea striker wants to remain in Europe.