Rabat – Hakim Ziyech has fueled speculation over his Galatasaray future after he deleted all photos relating to the club on his Instagram account Monday evening.
The 31-year-old Moroccan international has had a rough go with the Turkish club, playing only 87 minutes in six matches and failing to provide a single goal contribution.
Ziyech has been reportedly put on the transfer list due to his high salary and a fallout with Okan Buruk, Galatasaray’s manager, according to Albayyane.
During his career, Ziyech had a fair share of rows with managers. The talented winger has an undoubted talent and can play in the right winger position, as well as an attacking midfielder. However, his fiery temper has resulted in clashes with his former coaches.
The most infamous disputes were with the French manager Hervé Renard and Bosnian coach Valid Halilhodzic, during their tenure as heads of the Moroccan national team.
Halilhodzic has publicly blasted Ziyech’s attitude during his tenure between 2019 and 2022. “The player who refuses to train and to play and fakes injuries—that’s a dead story for me,” he told Croatian channel Dnevnik Nova TV.
“For me, the national team is something sacred. It doesn’t belong to the players but to the whole nation and when someone behaves like that, it’s the end of the story,” he added.
In regards to Renard, during the 2016 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualification stage, the manager benched Ziyech, and the winger found the exclusion hard to swallow. Renard later apologized.
More recently, Ziyech was sidelined with English club Chelsea at the start of the 2023-2024 Premiere League season, and later got shipped on loan to Galatasaray. After a bright start to the season, he became a starting player in the Turkish team, contributing to many goals, notably in the Champions League. His move became permanent in 2024.
In terms of his future with the Turkish club, rumors indicate that if Ziyech were to exit, he would make a comeback to his former Dutch club Ajax. Other clubs from Greece and Portugal are closely monitoring his situation at Galatasaray, with Benfica in the prime position to snatch him away on a loan deal.
Read Also: Sofyan Amrabat Joins Fenerbahçe on Loan with Obligation to Buy
