Ex-Chelsea man Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang took to social media to take a swipe at Chelsea’s recruitment after Hakim Ziyech joined Galatasaray this week.
The former Arsenal captain joined the Blues last summer, but endured a torrid season and was left out of the Champions League squad for the second half of the campaign, along with managing just 1 Premier League start in 2023, which lasted 45 minutes.
He has since joined French side Marseille on a free transfer as part of Chelsea’s major transfer overhaul, and was part of several put on the clubs unwanted list at the end of the season.
Another of those was Ziyech, with the Moroccan close to completing a move to Paris Saint Germain in January only for Chelsea to fail to submit the required paperwork in time and the move to fall through, leading to the French giants to threaten never to do business with their west London counterparts again.
A move to Al-Nassr also failed after rumours of a medical issue in his knee, but he finally completed a move away from Stamford Bridge this week, joining Turkish giants Galatasaray on a loan deal with an obligation to buy the player at the end of that loan spell, though no fee has been mentioned.
Hakim Ziyech has joined Galatasaray on loan from Chelsea, the club made his arrival public by having him lead a chant amongst the club’s ultras in the stands after they beat Trabzonspor in their first home league game of the season.
Pretty solid, that.
— HLTCO (@HLTCO) August 20, 2023
And Aubameyang couldn’t resist poking fun at his former teammate’s situation and his difficulty in leaving Chelsea, taking to Instagram to congratulate Ziyech before adding ‘Free Hakim’ in an apparent reference to his difficulties at Stamford Bridge.
Aubameyang to Hakim Ziyech on Instagram. pic.twitter.com/g7cjKFslqF
— CFC-Blues (@CFCBlues_com) August 20, 2023
They will not be the last either, with interest in Conor Gallagher, Trevoh Chalobah and Callum Hudson Odoi, all of whom could yet depart the club in the final two weeks of the transfer window.
