"He wants to leave" - Simon Phillips says £36 million Chelsea star is 'surplus to requirements' and is looking to exit Stamford Bridge 

British journalist Simon Phillips claims that Hakim Ziyech wants to leave Chelsea, and the club are happy to let him go, as he's surplus to requirements. The Moroccan arrived at Stamford Bridge in 2020 from Ajax for £33.3 million.

Graham Potter's side are in the midst of a rebuild and became the highest spenders in a single transfer window in the summer with an expenditure of £278.4 million. However, there weren't many attacking departures, with only Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner leaving the club.

Chelsea signed Joao Felix on a six-month loan from Atletico Madrid in the January transfer window as the competition for places in the Blues attack is intensifying. Ziyech, 29, is being left out in the cold, lacking game time. He has featured just 13 times this season.

Phillips has told GIVEMESPORT that Ziyech is keen to leave Stamford Bridge, and the Blues are willing to let him go:

“Ziyech, he wants to leave. He’s been keen to leave since the summer. Chelsea have always seen him pretty much as surplus to requirements, and they’d happily take offers for him. They’ve been like that for the last few months.”

Ziyech has struggled in west London since arriving from Ajax. He has made 96 appearances, scoring 14 times and providing ten assists. The Moroccan has been linked with Newcastle United and Inter Milan.

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Chelsea players reportedly fear that sacking medical department has backfired

Sterling (on ground) is one of many players to pick up knocks.

The overhaul after Todd Boehly's takeover of the club in May last year impacted the medical department at Stamford Bridge. Many of their long-standing medics left the west London club.

An injury crisis has taken hold and plagued the early stages of Graham Potter's tenure in charge of Chelsea. N'Golo Kante, Reece James and Ben Chilwell have all picked up long-term injuries.

According to The Telegraph, members of Potter's squad fear that the decision tp part with members of the medical department was a wrong one. The Blues are set to launch a review into the injury curse.

Head physio Thierry Laurent and medical chief Paco Biosca both left the club last summer. The duo had worked in the medical department for several years. Freddie Murphy, who worked on Foo Fighters lead singer Dave Grohl's broken leg, was hired as a consultant in the revamp.

Chelsea players believed in the club's former medical staff and felt the decision to part with Laurent and Biosca was done in haste. Other players who have been struck by injuries are Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Armando Broja, Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic.