01 February 2023 , 11:20
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Chelsea left Paris Saint-Germain furious in the dying embers of transfer deadline day as Hakim Ziyech’s move to France collapsed.
The Moroccan international had been looking for a Stamford Bridge exit throughout the January window and thought he had found it with a switch to the French champions. PSG had been seeking someone to replace Pablo Sarabia within their first-team squad, after allowing the Spaniard to join Wolves on a cut-price deal.
Initially, Lyon’s young star Rayan Cherki had been their No.1 target, but OL refused to allow the homegrown starlet to depart, with Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas labelling PSG’s offer as “insulting”. They then turned their attention to former Barcelona winger Malcom, now with Zenit St Petersburg, but couldn’t agree a deal with the Russian side.
As such, PSG eventually turned to Ziyech, 29, on January 31, for a loan switch to the Parc des Princes with all terms seemingly agreed between the parties. The former Ajax man, the Blues' first signing following their transfer ban in 2020 at a cost of £33million, spent the evening in Les Parisiens’ offices in the French capital waiting for his switch to be rubber stamped.
But Ziyech’s registration was not completed ahead of the deadline, the contracts submitted too late for his switch to be ratified.
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PSG bosses are furious, according to a number of sources, blaming Chelsea for botching the paperwork, claiming they became too focused on getting their British record £107million transfer of Enzo Fernandez sorted and allowed the Ziyech move to fall by the wayside.
Hakim Ziyech looks set to be stuck at Chelsea for the remainder of the season (Getty Images)Indeed, as first reported by L’Equipe, THREE TIMES Chelsea officials sent either wrong or incomplete documents, thus meaning his switch couldn’t be completed. At least one of those errors is understood to been when paperwork wasn't even signed. When the completed paperwork was finally filed, shortly after 11pm English time, the French deadline had elapsed.
That left PSG and Ziyech at the mercy of French football chiefs, with PSG appealing to the Ligue de Football Professional (LFP) on Wednesday. However, their appeal was made more in hope than judgment, and a deal won't be sanctioned.
That leaves Ziyech, who has made 10 Premier League appearances for Chelsea so far this term, but who has fallen down the pecking order with the club’s January arrivals, likely to be stuck in west London for the remainder of the campaign.
Chelsea are yet to comment on the matter.