Big money Chelsea flop waiting to hear if he is in Tuchel’s plans and could move to Serie A on loan

Work has started at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground as Thomas Tuchel aims to follow up his Champions League triumph with the club’s sixth Premier League title. 

Tuchel arrived in West London in January and had a remarkable impact on the Blues, masterminding 17 clean sheets in 21 games as Chelsea reached the FA Cup final, Champions League final and also finished comfortably within the top four.

Now, with the club’s army of loanees returning to SW6 and several of the players involved at Euro 2020 still enjoying a well deserved break, the German has had the opportunity to assess some of his fringe players and youngsters.

Players including Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Armando Broja and Malang Sarr have all been pictured being heavily involved in training, and will all be hoping to be involved with the first team next season.

One player, however, whose future appears uncertain is Hakim Ziyech.

The Moroccan winger arrived in the capital last summer as part of then manager Frank Lampard’s spending spree, but a combination of injuries and poor form meant that Ziyech struggled for first team opportunities in his first season in England.

Now, it appears that he could be on his way to Serie A.

Ziyech joined Chelsea from Ajax for a fee of £38 million last summer.

According to Italian outlet Calciomercato, AC Milan are pushing to secure a loan deal for the 28-year-old, with an option to buy also preferred.

The former Ajax man is perceived by the Italian giants as a financially viable option, having already been priced out of moves for Philippe Coutinho and Isco.

If a move does materialise, Ziyech would be the third Chelsea player to join Milan this summer, following the permanent transfers of Fikayo Tomori and Olivier Giroud.

If he does stay in London, Ziyech will likely have to compete with the likes of Timo Werner, Cristian Pulisic and Hudson-Odoi for a position in Tuchel’s starting 11.

The German usually opts for a back three with wing-backs, meaning that there is less opportunity for attacking players to feature in the team.

It is believed that Ziyech is therefore waiting to learn whether or not he is in Tuchel’s plans for the upcoming season, before making his decision.