Galatasaray 'considering terminating Chelsea's Hakim Ziyech loan deal'

Galatasaray may reportedly look to terminate the loan spell of Chelsea playmaker Hakim Ziyech during the January transfer window.

The Turkish giants won the race to secure the Morocco international's signature in the summer when a move to the Saudi Pro League fell through.

An issue in a medical resulted in the transfer to the Middle East breaking down, but Galatasaray were prepared to strike a loan deal with Chelsea with the obligation to buy.

That is something that was confirmed by Chelsea at the time and is expected to be finalised in due course.

Nevertheless, according to NTV Spor, Galatasaray would prefer to scrap the deal entirely rather than complete a permanent transfer.

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The report indicates that the feeling behind the scenes is that the 30-year-old has been largely 'ineffective' and as not met the standards expected of him.

Furthermore, a number of minor injury issues is noted, preventing Ziyech from building a run of consecutive games in the first team, yet he has still featured on a regular basis.

In total, Ziyech has four goals and two assists to his name from nine starts and five substitute appearances, with two of his strikes coming against Manchester United in the Champions League.

Galatasaray have subsequently dropped into the Europa League having finished in third spot in their group, albeit remaining in Europe still generating added revenue.

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How Chelsea react to the alleged development remains to be seen with the Blues reliant on the agreed future fee to boost their position with FFP next summer.

Nevertheless, if Chelsea could find another solution for Ziyech should Galatasaray express a desire to scrap their agreement, it may theoretically benefit the Premier League outfit.

Ziyech is currently taking up one of seven foreign loan spots at a time when Chelsea will have a desire to free up a slot to accommodate a temporary switch for the likes of Andrey Santos and Deivid Washington in January.

The versatile attacker currently has 18 months remaining on his existing contract with Chelsea, although there is no prospect of him returning to the first-team fold at Stamford Bridge.