Ajax Coach Erik ten Hag has appeared to confirm Hakim Ziyech’s imminent £38million transfer to Chelsea, MySportDab reports.
Chelsea and Ajax have reached an agreement on a fee for the winger after rejecting a previous offer for the 26-year-old in January.
They still progressed with negotiations despite interest in Ziyech from other clubs and would likely make an agreement in the coming days.
MySportDab understands Ziyech had a release clause of £25m at the end of last season but this has changed after he signed a new contract with the Dutch club.
Should the deal be officially confirmed, Ziyech would become Frank Lampard’s first signing as Chelsea Coach after a transfer ban last summer.
“Ziyech moving to Chelsea? A transfer was imminent, we expected it to happen,’ Ajax Coach Ten Hag told Fox Sports.
“And I already expected this one or two years earlier. And every time I would say: “Wow, he stayed again”.
“We are just very happy that he will remain with us until the end of the season.’
Ziyech has been fantastic for Ajax, scoring 48 goals and providing 82 assists acoss 159 matches for the Dutch club.
He was very impressive in their race to the Champions League semi-finals last season, where they were knocked out by Tottenham.
Many fans expected that Ziyech yo leave Ajax last summer but only Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong were sold, to Juventus and Barcelona respectively.
During his last season with Ajax, Ziyech will help them continue in their Eredivisie title defence they currently top the table and three points clear of rivals AZ Alkmaar.
Ajax have also progressed to the Dutch Cup on Wednesday night after a 3-0 win against Vitesse Arnhem.
