An African star has been urged to leave Chelsea amid his struggles for regular game time at the club, with it being claimed "it is not good for football" that he is not starting matches.
With a changing of the guard at the Blues' helm in recent weeks, some players who did not feature consistently under previous manager Thomas Tuchel will have hoped for a change in their fortunes.
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With new boss Graham Potter now three matches into his tenure, however, it is becoming increasingly clear which of his stars he is counting on, while others have remained on the fringes.
Among the latter is Morocco winger Hakim Ziyech, who has played just eight minutes of football under the new coach, per Transfermarkt.
He was also an unused substitute in the Blues' UEFA Champions League tie against AC Milan on Wednesday, as well as the side's Premier League encounter against Crystal Palace last weekend.
Netherlands legend Marco van Basten has now urged the former Ajax Amsterdam star, who is expected to be part of the Atlas Lions team that will go to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, to find a way out of the club in the next window as "it is not good for football" that he is not playing regularly.
"There is another transfer window coming up. It is sad and a shame," Van Basten told Ziggo Sport.
"Ziyech is a great player. We have to see someone like that, we watch TV for such a player and we come to the stadium.
"It is a pity for the whole of football that he is on the bench.
"If these kinds of players do not get minutes, it is not good for football."
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Asked if he believes Ziyech would be downgrading if he were to leave Chelsea, Van Basten replied: "I don't know but there is another problem.
"There should actually be a rule that clubs can only have a certain number of players. So they [Chelsea] have way too many and that actually makes football less interesting.
"A player like Ziyech could just play at another club and entertain the fans.
"Soon there will be teams that have 35 players, five or six of whom never play. They could excel at other clubs.
"All competitions must be reduced to 18 clubs. Then you play a few fewer matches. Then you can't use more than, say, 26 players during the season.
"You see that it is possible. At Real Madrid, for example. They just have a normal selection and just 18 to 20 players who always play. So, in principle, that should be possible."
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