Hakim Ziyech has admitted he is feeling "sharp" ahead of the new Premier League season and it looks as though he is fully focused on playing for Chelsea despite rumours linking him with another summer move.
The Moroccan joined from Ajax at the beginning of last summer’s transfer window, but he has struggled to adapt to English football thus far, featuring sporadically last season across just 39 games in all competitions.
A number of those appearances came from the substitutes bench as the midfielder fell out of favour with new Chelsea boss, Thomas Tuchel.
As he is not a guaranteed starter, Ziyech has been linked with a move away from the club despite joining just over a year ago.
Tuttosport, via Sport Witness, claim AC Milan will re-open talks with Chelsea for Ziyech, who is valued at £34.2million by Transfermarkt .
The report adds that the 28-year-old is viewed as 'very popular' amongst the hierarchy at the Serie A giants.
Nevertheless, Ziyech is still a Chelsea player and has therefore already begun his season preparations in blue.
And after getting 45 minutes under his belt in Chelsea’s pre-season win over Bournemouth, the Moroccan explained that he is feeling "fresh" ahead of the new campaign.
"I’m feeling great," he told Chelsea’s official website. “I feel sharp and I’m looking forward to the next game.
“I think the days off that we had were good for us, everyone is looking fresh and you saw that on the pitch because everyone looked hungry out there.
“Results don’t matter so much at this stage, but of course it’s always nice for the confidence. The most important thing is getting the rhythm back, working on our fitness and getting some minutes into our legs.”
The Blues will continue their preparation with a pair of London derbies against Arsenal and Tottenham in the Mind Series, games Ziyech wants to be involved in.
“We have two tough pre-season games coming up in Arsenal and Spurs now," added Ziyech.
“Those are the type of games you want to be involved in and we are looking forward to them both. Now it’s important that we rest and recover before the next challenge.”
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