Ajax star Hakim Ziyech says he cannot trust many people in football because it has become "a big puppet show".
The 26-year-old attacking midfielder, who has been linked with the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Tottenham in recent weeks, has been criticised for his attitude despite his impressive displays in the Eredivisie.
And while Ziyech admits he can be difficult to gauge at times, he says he does not care about other people's opinions because there are too many fake people lingering around the game.
"I have knowledge of people and I don't like fake people," he told Algemeen Dagblad.
"I have a certain antenna with which I can filter exactly who is real and who is fake in one conversation. Who pretends and who is pure. That is very important to me. Just be normal.
"If I trust someone, I also blindly trust that person. Otherwise you cannot touch me, your opinion does not matter to me at all.
"Many fake figures are walking around football fields, so I trust few people. It's a big puppet show and it's getting worse."
He added: "People who never speak to me do not experience me on a daily basis but talk about how I am put together. I call those people clowns. They want to perform a trick without real knowledge.
"But sometimes it is not their fault. The puppet show also depends on something like social media. That has destroyed the world. Everything must be beautiful, everyone wants to show everything off. It is made up. Everything becomes less personal, everything just has to be shown.
"That sounds contradictory, but when I post something, I do it because I like it. I make nothing more beautiful than it is and certainly not with a feeling of: look at me."
Zeeeeeeeeeek
363
Only few will understand what he is talking about, social media has diminished the true value of the game but has increased its publicity? Calm yrself, I am not contradicting myself. Fans now rate certain footballer better than the rest bcos they post everything they do online. If you can change your hair style three times in a week, you are likely to be rated as a fantastic player by those who chose to see style rather than football. If you post your workout session online, then you are regarded as being the most hardworking player by this same set of fans, regardless of whether you perform credibly or not. journalist are not left out of this funny behavior, they tend to pay more attention to certain players page on Instagram, twitter etc than their games on the pitch. For the records, hard work is not lifting heavy weights, rather it's by regularly improving yourself in those areas you know needs improvement and not giving up until you know you have really improved.
jibreal24
316
Mr Ziyech I understand your feelings I know not only u but all Muslims footballers experience the same thing because they show the are Muslims in wider society just concentrate and focus on ur football ignore all those talking rubbish
LastLiv
264
Hakim Ziyech is a very talented player, I don't know why the top teams are not going for him till now, I'm sure he will be a successful player everywhere