Chelsea topped West Ham on Monday 2-0 to move into third in the Premier League table, and Eden Hazard ran the show. Amid reports that he could be moving to Real Madrid this summer, Hazard glittered, glistened, and sparkled at Stamford Bridge.
Maurizio Sarri knows he can’t afford to lose his brightest star.
“It is impossible to find another Hazard,” Sarri proclaimed during the post-match press conference. “At the moment there isn’t another Hazard. The level [of his play] is so high.”
“I hope that Hazard can stay here, otherwise we have to try something different I think.”
After his brace against West Ham, Hazard has been directly involved in 28 goals this league campaign - with 16 goals and 12 assists - the most in the English top flight. Since joining the Blues in 2012, the 28-year-old has accumulated 85 Premier League goals plus 58 league assists.
“I am sure the club doesn’t want to sell him, but of course we all have to respect his decision I think,” Sarri said after the West Ham win. “He is in the last season of his contract, and if he wants to have another experience, we have to respect it. We will try, of course, anyway, to convince him [to stay] but it is not easy.”
During the West Ham match, the away fans chanted “Eden Hazard, he’s off to Madrid” to taunt the Belgian star, but clearly it had no affect on his play on the field. After the match, Hazard was asked about the chants. “They are wrong,” Hazard said. “I’m just focused with Chelsea until the end of the season. I just want to finish in the top four and win the Europa League. We still have a lot to do, and then we will see.”