Arsenal: Looks like there’s a reason Hakim Ziyech hasn’t signed yet

Hakim Ziyech looked to be the cookie-cutter solution to Arsenal’s attacking problems but, as it turns out, there’s a reason this transfer hasn’t been completed.

I feel like I’ve spent at least a couple of weeks banging my head against the wall, wondering why Arsenal haven’t signed Hakim Ziyech yet. The guy admitted to wanting to play for Arsenal above all else, he called Mesut Ozil his idol, he is the all-purpose attacker we need, and there was a supposed release clause in his contract of £25m.

It was a no brainer. Sign the man up. Pay the fee and let your attacking problems just… disappear. Ziyech says he idolizes Ozil? Well, no it’s time to replace him. Because Ziyech plays the game the way that Unai Emery wants it played.

Whether he served as a No. 10, a secondary striker or a winger, Ziyech had the chops to play it well, having accumulated so many goals for Ajax last year, and not just in the Eredivisie.

But as has been the case with every potential transfer this summer, nothing happened. The rumors died away and, not long after, it was revealed that no one could say for certain if that release clause even existed.

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And then rumors popped up that Ziyech would cost £30m.

And now it’s looking like that’ll look more like £35m.

If you’ve been following the transfer circus thus far into the summer, you probably know enough to know that the rising price likely won’t stop there.

The release clause and the preference for a move to the Emirates was all that gave me confidence in this move happening. It was a slam dunk. But if you take either of those factors out of the equation, it’s not as easy to solve.

Ziyech is worth way more than £25m. He’s worth more than £30m and £35m too. Goals make meals of transfer values, and Ziyech is currently one of the best goal scorers in Europe. Even his market valuation on transfermarkt is £38m, and they don’t do a great job of accounting for inflation.

So for all of you, like me, who have been wondering what the hold-up is on signing up Hakim Ziyech, now we know – he costs too much. It’s that simple. And now my faith in this deal actually happening has plummeted to approximately zero. Of course, I always love a good surprise, so…