Hakim Ziyech is one of Ajax star players in the last couple of years. He really made a name for himself during Ajax’ 2018-2019 Champions League campaign where he led his team to the semi-finals. Every follower of the Dutch Eredivisie was already familiar with his qualities, but his Champions League performances gave him the respect from all over the world. Many people are wondering why Hakim Ziyech still plays at Ajax. In this article I will explain why he’s still in Amsterdam and what Monchi has got to do with it.

Spring of 2018

I want to start with looking back to the spring of 2018. The 2017-2018 season was a poor one for Ajax. They failed to qualify for European football, after losing the Europa League final a year before. On the 15th of April Ajax lost an away match against PSV, which meant that PSV won the Eredivisie. When Ajax arrived at the Amsterdam Arena, a bunch of angry so called Ajax fans waited for the team and demanded they stept out of the bus. Hakim Ziyech is one of the players that got pushed by the fans. Something that really touched him and I was convinced he would leave Ajax that summer.

Monchi vital in Hakim Ziyech transfer summers

In the summer of 2018, just months after the attack by his own fans, Hakim Ziyech got a call from Monchi. He was sporting director at AS Roma at that time and he really wanted to bring Ziyech to Rome. Ziyech was really flattered and he was open for a move to AS Roma. Monchi did an initial offer, which Ajax countered. Ajax and Ziyech awaiting a reply from Monchi, but it stayed quiet for some days. At a press conference a few days later, Monchi was asked about a possible Ziyech transfer and told the press they had more than enough players in Ziyech’s position. Ziyech stayed at Ajax, while Monchi went back to Sevilla in the summer of 2019.

On behalf of Sevilla he once again contacted the Morrocan international if he was open for a transfer. Ziyech hadn’t forgot about Monchi’s actions a year before and refused to talk with Monchi. This all got explained by Ziyech in an interview with Dutch newspaper AD.nl. In this interview he said: “Sevilla is a beautiful club, but they’ve got a technical director who messed with me a year earlier. He’s the reason why I wasn’t open to talk with Sevilla.”