adminChelsea owner Todd Boehly moved quickly to appoint a replacement for sacked manager Thomas Tuchel, but new boss Graham Potter was reportedly not the only contender.
Boehly was in danger of reopening a long-standing feud between Hakim Ziyech and Vahid Halilhodzic if he had followed through with plans to meet the manager over the vacant Chelsea job.
Boehly acted quickly to sack Thomas Tuchel just a month into the new season after three defeats in seven league and European matches. According to reports in France, Halilhodzic – like Tuchel, a former Paris Saint-Germain manager – was among those in the mix before the Blues opted for Graham Potter.
Had Chelsea opted for the Bosnian, though, it’s unlikely Ziyech would have been happy. The Moroccan winger quit international football following a feud with the 69-year-old which kept him out of January’s Africa Cup of Nations.
According to L’Equipe (via Get French Football News ), Boehly agreed to meet Halilhodzic before ultimately appointing Potter. The veteran manager, who took charge of Algeria at the 2014 World Cup, has been out of work since being sacked by Morocco in August, just a few months after helping them qualify for Qatar 2022.
Halilhodzic’s dispute with Ziyech came to a fore in September 2021, prompting suggestions – later proved accurate – that the player might sit out AFCON. “His behaviour in the last two matches, especially the last one, was not that of a national team player who as a leader in the team has to be a positive role model,” the manager said of the former Ajax star.
“He arrived late and after that, he even refused to work,” Halilhodzic added. “There was no point in discussing it afterwards, as a coach the answer is right there to see. For me, the national team is above everything, nobody can hold it hostage.”– Mirror.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter