Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag approached Hakim Ziyech ahead of Thursday's Premier League game at Old Trafford in a warm moment.
Ten Hag and Ziyech came very close to the 2019 Champions League final with an Ajax team featuring Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt and Donny van de Beek.
After an impressive stint in Amsterdam, the Moroccan winger has signed a five-year contract with Premier League side Chelsea in 2020 worth £33.6m plus additional terms.
Ziyech has had a promising start at Stamford Bridge under Frank Lampard, who urged the club to move on after his performance in that crucial Champions League game.
But the 30-year-old striker, who nearly left Chelsea in January before his move to PSG collapsed, struggled to win back many minutes of late play for the first team. In fact, the last time Ziyech started for the Blues was against Spurs in February. However, it is clear that Ten Hag appreciates his former player.
Before the game started, the United manager went straight to the Chelsea bench to greet the disgraced Ziyech, who hugged his former boss.
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As you can see in the images below, there was a brief handshake with Lampard.
United then secured a place in next season's Champions League with an easy 4-1 win, as goals from Casemiro, Anthony Martial, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford put Chelsea to sleep. After the final whistle, Ten Hag could be seen walking alongside Ziyech before making his way down the Old Trafford tunnel.
And in the post-match interview, the United boss was asked about this conversation. "It's between Hakim and me," Ten Hag told Viaplay. "We've been through so many wonderful things together. There's a lifelong bond."
He added:
"He has to play every week. Such a footballer, in his prime, had to be on the pitch."
The way Erik Ten Hag greets Ziyech by going to another bench area and then seeing him again when leaving the field shows how much ETH loves him.
Ziyech to United, who said no? pic.twitter.com/M1Ok6JFzoM
– ~X~? (@UnitedSymbol) May 26, 2023
As mentioned earlier, Ziyech's move to Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain failed in January, prompting former Chelsea player Ruud Gullit to criticize the club's treatment of the player.
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He told Ziggo Sport:
"It's not a mistake. It's impossible. If you have that many players and you do this two, three times... It could be bullying.
"Ziyech can also be very boring. You don't know. He will still have to fight for his place. In the end, it sucks for him."
The Dutch legend added:
"He should have left a long time ago. It remains to be seen whether he will play for Paris Saint-Germain. Then you find yourself in the same situation."
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