Melchiot: “Ziyech has to adjust to the physicality of the premier league “

Former Chelsea Defender Mario Melchiot believes Hakim Ziyech will be a big hit in the premier league provided he adjusts to the physical and demanding nature of the premier league.

Melchiot believes because of the quality the Former Ajax Man Possesses he will get fouled a lot but he excepts him to cope with that brutal nature.

Speaking to Goal, Melchiot said: "In Holland, you have tough games, but in England they come back-to-back – and back-to-back again," 

"The games are tougher and you get fouled a lot. If he manages to get through that, then he will be fine. I think he will do well.

"I was at Ajax a couple of months ago to have lunch with (chief executive officer) Edwin van der Sar. He brought me to (director of football) Mark Overmars’ office and as I was leaving the room, Hakim comes in, says hi and hugs me.

"It was right after he agreed the move to Chelsea. He didn't ask me about it before making his decision but he must have looked at the club and saw the same as I saw. It is a beautiful team in London. They have great love and passion for you even after you play there. It is exceptional.

"I hope he does well there as he is very polite, very nice and very confident. I want to make people understand that his confidence is not a negative. Sometimes, people see confidence as a bad thing if they are not confident themselves.

"But I love a confident player and I was one myself. He always wants to show his ability on the ball because he is very technically gifted. He also sees things a lot of players won’t see.

"It took some time for him to show his quality at Ajax but once he got himself in the team, he became maybe their most important player.

"And that’s why they didn’t sell him last year. They needed to hold onto him as the team would have struggled [after selling Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt] without Hakim there to take over.

"So, I like him a lot and why I think he will do very well at Chelsea."