Chelsea boss Frank Lampard believes Hakim Ziyech is the man to replace Eden Hazard.
Chelsea lost their chief creator in Hazard when he left for Real Madrid in 2019, while they also saw key players Pedro and Willian leave this summer.
Ziyech could be introduced to the Premier League today at Turf Moor where Burnley and their low block defence will be awaiting the £36m playmaker signed from Ajax.
“We had Pedro last season and Willian was a huge player,” said Lampard. “The year before that we had Eden Hazard. Those sort of players don’t get replaced on a whim.
“With Hakim we had the potential to bring in someone with really different qualities to what we’ve had in recent years in terms of a left-footed, right-sided player, which was his main position position at Ajax.
“I know he played in a No 10 role and he can definitely do that for us if we want to play that way.
“But he does it in a way that he is very much about opening up chances for others with his crossing ability and final pass.
“He’s not necessarily a winger who is going to fly past players all the time, albeit that is in his game. He can find a pass.
“Sometimes last season I felt we lacked that option when we were playing against low-block defences.”
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