Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has claimed that Eden Hazard is free to leave the Premier League club if he wants to amid interest from Real Madrid.
As quoted by Sky Sports, Maurizio Sarri has said that he will not stand in the way of Eden Hazard, if he so desires to call time on his stint at Chelsea. The Belgian international has been courted by Real Madrid for a long time, with Los Blancos keen on signing him in the summer.
Hazard has been one of the best players to have represented Chelsea in the Roman Abramovich era, having been a pivotal player for the Blues since joining the club in the summer of 2012. In fact, bar one forgettable campaign in 2015-16, the Belgian winger has been one of the top performers in England every season.
So much so, that the Blues are heavily reliant on his output to inspire a positive result. But, the player has regularly flirted with the idea of calling it quits at Chelsea in favour of sealing a dream move to Real Madrid, who have been tailing him for quite some time now.
In fact, Los Blancos were reportedly even keen on landing him till the last day of the summer transfer window before a move failed to pan out. But, with their attack misfiring for much of the season, the need to return with their interest in the Chelsea superstar has emerged for Real Madrid.
Vinicius Junior has been one of the rare standouts in attack for Real Madrid this season, while Karim Benzema has been a positive as well. Apart from the duo, however, no other player has managed to perform consistently enough to drive home a win.
Hazard is thus, a viable target for Real Madrid, who could end up creating a formidable wide duo of him and Vinicius. And, Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has now broken his silence on the subject of Hazard leaving the club, claiming that he is allowed to depart from Stamford Bridge if he so wishes to.
“The situation of Eden is different. Eden is 28. If he wants to go, I think he has to go. Of course, I hope the opposite, I hope he wants to stay here. He has the potential to be the best player in Europe at the moment.”
Sarri’s quotes would come as a huge boost for Real Madrid, who will now fancy their chances of swooping Hazard away from Chelsea in the summer, when he will have just one year left on his contract. The Blues though, are still likely to demand a premium for their talisman, and it remains to be seen if he can finally secure his dream move.
