The rumours of Eden Hazard leaving Chelsea for Real Madrid are getting closer and closer to reality, which is why Chelsea already started making a list of players, who would be a potential replacement for their star player if he decides to leave for Santiago Bernabéu in summer.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – APRIL 28: Eden Hazard of Chelsea during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Chelsea FC at Old Trafford on April 28, 2019 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images)
Despite a subpar performance from Chelsea this season, they can still be proud of the performances of their star player; Eden Hazard, who has contributed 16 goals and added 13 assists in 34 appearances in the Premier League. In fact, it is not only this season that we saw the Belgian international playing well. Ever since he joined Chelsea in 2012, he has become a key player for the Blues. In 7 long years, Eden Hazard racked up 346 appearances for Chelsea, scored 108 goals and added 88 assists, which not surprisingly makes him one of the best players in the world. However, with superb performances year after year, Hazard caught the attention of other big clubs, who would be more than happy to bring him to their team.
One of the clubs that has not only noticed Hazard and his performances but are also determined to bring him to the team are Real Madrid, who believe the Belgian international is a perfect replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo, who left the Los Blancos in 2018. The rumours of Hazard moving to Real have been heard before, however, now it has become almost certain he would end up leaving Chelsea in summer to join his new team in Spain.
When a player who has the quality of Hazard leaves the club, there is understandably a huge gap that needs to be filled, which is something Sarri is well aware. For that reason, he has started looking for a replacement long ago, and it was reported by Calciomercato that Chelsea set their eyes on Barcelona star Coutinho, who they believe would be a perfect replacement for the departing Hazard.
Coutinho while still being considered one of the best, failed to live up to his potential in Barcelona, a team he joined in January 2018 for a 135,00 million € fee from Liverpool. While he did have some bright moments, Coutinho is widely considered to be a bad transfer for Barcelona, who expected more from the Brazilian. But Chelsea believes Coutinho still has something in him to be once again as good as he was in the past, which is why they have expressed their desire to bring him into the team if Eden Hazard ends up leaving them.
LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 18: Eden Hazard of Chelsea control ball during the UEFA Europa League Quarter Final Second Leg match between Chelsea and Slavia Praha at Stamford Bridge on April 18, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)
As a plan B, Chelsea have expressed their desire to bring in Lille’s player Nicolas Pele instead. The 23-year-old Cote d’Ivoire winger has been linked with numerous other European clubs, however, the rumours suggest Chelsea are leading the race and could have an upper hand over other clubs when (if) they decide to sign him as a replacement.
All the rumours and speculations, however, have one big “if” in front of them, solely due to the fact Chelsea just might have to miss the transfer window due to the ban they received by FIFA. Chelsea allegedly broke the rules in regards of making illegal payments to the families of young players in order to get them into the team, which could mean the Blues will miss the next two transfer windows. Should FIFA lift the ban, we just might be looking at two more huge transfers happening this summer. If not, all the speculations and potential transfers will fall into the water.
