{"id":1106345,"date":"2019-09-14T12:39:52","date_gmt":"2019-09-14T11:39:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1106345"},"modified":"2019-09-14T12:39:52","modified_gmt":"2019-09-14T11:39:52","slug":"ziyech-eredivisie-milestone-assist-king","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/ziyech-eredivisie-milestone-assist-king\/","title":{"rendered":"Eredivisie ‘assist king’ Hakim Ziyech on brink of an unexpected double century – so why did he stay at Ajax?"},"content":{"rendered":"

After coming seconds from reaching a first European Cup final in 23 years, very few expected Ajax to retain much of their brilliant team.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But here were are, days away from their Champions League group phase opener against Lille and manager Erik ten Hag has at his disposal eight of those who starred in that stunning 4-1 victory at the Estadio Santiago Bernab\u00e9u.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/audioboom.com\/posts\/7367517-de-bruyne-is-on-course-to-break-henry-s-most-impressive-premier-league-record<\/p>\n

That said, the reigning Dutch champions have been somewhat struggling to fill the void left by Europe’s best midfielder, Frenkie de Jong, who essentially became the club’s metronome as their historic 2018\/19 season unfolded. In his absence, others – notably the senior crew – will need to step up to an even greater extent.<\/p>\n

But if De Jong was Ajax’s heartbeat, Hakim Ziyech was their brain. The 26-year-old playmaker, who now calls the right flank home, is entering his peak years. But to the amazement of anyone who has followed his career, he will be playing this season in Europe’s 11th strongest domestic competition.<\/p>\n

A footballing romantic<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The befuddlement stems from recent trends. With the greatest respect in the world, Ziyech has long outgrown the Eredivisie, in which he’s made 199 appearances to date.\u00a0Interestingly cap number 200 is scheduled to come against Heerenveen, where he broke through seven years ago.\u00a0Players younger than him have departed for pastures new despite achieving far less.<\/p>\n

Unlike his many predecessors, Ziyech has consciously put personal enjoyment before riches. Following the 2018 World Cup, in which he starred for Morocco, the powers that be in Amsterdam granted him a transfer, but no club to his liking made a move and so he stayed. And it was more of the same a year later, even after Europe saw firsthand what he’s truly capable of.<\/p>\n