Chelsea reportedly fail to sell Ziyech again - but why?

Chelsea's efforts to offload Hakim Ziyech have reportedly fallen flat once again, but it's unclear why his latest potential move collapsed.

Rumors on Thursday evening suggested that Ziyech had failed a medical with Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr. A subsequent report from The Guardian's Jacob Steinberg corroborated this, indicating a knee issue scuppered his £8-million transfer. The 30-year-old was set to sign a lucrative three-year contract with the club that employs Cristiano Ronaldo.

But citing club sources from the Gulf, The Evening Standard's Nizaar Kinsella said the move was halted, but not necessarily over, because the two parties hadn't reached an agreement over the final terms in Ziyech's contract. Al Nassr officials were also disappointed by the reports claiming the Moroccan failed a medical, Kinsella adds.

Ziyech could be left in a familiar state of limbo at Stamford Bridge. The out-of-favor winger was on the verge of moving on loan to Paris Saint-Germain on the final day of the January transfer window until the transaction collapsed because Chelsea reportedly didn't file the necessary paperwork in time. A PSG representative apparently branded the debacle a "Class A circus."

Roma sporting director Tiago Pinto said he was also in talks with Ziyech's agents and Chelsea that January but a move fell through, according to transfer insider Fabrizio Romano.

Ziyech's stats at Chelsea

Chelsea have been staging a fire sale in an effort to enhance their 2022-23 accounts before the next financial year starts on July 1. Kai Havertz, Mateo Kovacic, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have been sold and Mason Mount is reportedly headed to Manchester United. N'Golo Kante, Kalidou Koulibaly, and Edouard Mendy all moved to Saudi Arabia. Ziyech was expected to be part of this exodus.

Ziyech switched Ajax for Chelsea for around £33 million in 2020. He started just two Premier League matches after his January transfers failed to materialize, the last of which was February's 2-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.