Ronaldo's team recruits Hakim Ziyech

The star who brought Morocco to the 2022 World Cup semi-finals Hakim Ziyech left Chelsea to join Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr.

The 30-year-old striker has signed a three-year contract with last season's Saudi Pro League runners-up. Al Nassr and Chelsea will announce the deal once a medical is completed.

Ziyech is Al Nassr's first signing in the summer transfer window of 2023. The club shocked the world when it signed Cristiano Ronaldo earlier this year and paid him a record salary of $75 million per year.

Ziyech will be Ronaldo's teammate next season. Photo: Reuters — Ziyech will be Ronaldo's teammate next season. Photo: *Reuters*

Previously, two other Saudi Arabian clubs, Al Ittihad and Al Hilal, took turns activating blockbusters. Saudi Pro League champion Al Ittihad recruited Karim Benzema and N'golo Kante, while Al Hilal bought Ruben Neves and Kalidou Koulibaly.

Ziyech is the third Chelsea player to leave for Saudi Arabia, joining Kante and Koulibaly. Including the sales of Kai Havertz to Arsenal and Mateo Kovacic to Man City, Chelsea have now said goodbye to five players. The wave of stars leaving Stamford Bridge shows no signs of stopping as new manager Mauricio Pochettino looks to clean up his squad.

Chelsea spent $49 million to recruit Ziyech from Ajax in the summer of 2020. The Moroccan striker won the 2020-2021 Champions League, the 2021 UEFA Super Cup and the 2021 Club World Cup in three years playing in England. However, Ziyech's number of matches each season was not as expected when he was not given a starting position by the coaches. Ziyech played a total of 107 matches for Chelsea in all competitions, scoring 14 goals.

In December 2022, Ziyech was one of the pillars that helped Morocco make history by reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup. He contributed a goal in the 2-1 win over Canada in the group stage. Ziyech and his teammates defeated Ronaldo's Portugal 1-0 in the quarter-finals.

At Al Nassr, Ziyech will join a squad of foreign stars including Ronaldo, Colombian goalkeeper David Ospina, and former Brazilian midfielder Luiz Gustavo to serve the ambition of winning the Saudi League next season. Last season, despite having Ronaldo in the middle of the season, the club only finished second in the national championship, stopping at the semi-finals of two domestic Cups, the King's Cup and the Saudi Super Cup.

Duy Doan (according to Daily Mail )

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