Ajax director of football and former Arsenal winger Marc Overmars has been speaking about the future of Hakim Ziyech .
One transfer rumour which has certainly excited a number of Gunners fans is that of being in the running alongside Liverpool and Manchester United to sign the Morocco international.
A standout player from the Dutch champions' excellent run to the Champions League semi-final last season, Ziyech is also attracting interest from La Liga outfit Sevilla.
However, until now there's been no movement. Much of which could be attributed to him featuring in this summer's Africa Cup of Nations.
Although, Ziyech could have been an Arsenal player by now had the Gunners taken the advice of Overmars.
"I am a little surprised that things are still so quiet around Hakim," Overmars said, as per AD . "I think he has played better every year and his statistics are exceptionally good. Many clubs are increasingly looking at that.
"They look more at the numbers than at what he shows and what is happening around him.
"I think Hakim is better than Mesut Özil. I would say: sell it and you will get Hakim for half.
"But they didn't listen to me, haha. So it could just be that he stays with Ajax."
There may be nobody as frustrated as Ziyech at this move not materialising as eagle-eyed fans on social media found an old video of the attacking midfielder taking part in a Q&A with former teammate Justin Kluivert, where he revealed that it was his 'dream' to play for Arsenal.
Asked which club he'd like to play for in the future, he responded: "Well, I have two clubs. They are Arsenal and Barcelona. That is my ultimate dream."
Interestingly, Mesut Ozil may have played a role in tempting Ziyech to the Emirates as in the same video, Ziyech was also asked who his football idol is and revealed it is none other than Arsenal's very own no.10
Failure to qualify for the Champions League has promoted reports that Unai Emery will have to work with a reduced budget to work with this summer, with £45m being the repeated number.
And amid reports from the Netherlands from De Telegraaf (via the Mirror ) which claim that the asking price for the attacker is in the region of £30m, it's possible that's another reason for not making a move.
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