Chelsea will be grateful to receive £100 million for Real Madrid target Eden Hazard in the summer, suggests Mario Melchiot.
According to retired Dutch footballer, Mario Melchiot, Chelsea should cash in on Eden Hazard if they receive anything around £100 million in the upcoming summer transfer window, in an interview with talkSPORT.
Hazard has been a subject of major transfer speculation, with Real Madrid reportedly in pole position to sign the Belgian international in the summer. However, Chelsea have been reluctant to let go of their prized asset thus far, although Hazard’s chances of staying at Stamford Bridge beyond this season are seemingly bleak.
Therefore, Melchiot suggests that the Blues should definitely sell the star attacker if they receive an offer in the region of £100 million by Real Madrid. The former Chelsea superstar said, “Keeping him for another year and letting him go for free? That would be bad business.”
“As a fan, all along I want to keep Hazard until the last minute. But as a business it would not be a smart move to hold onto him. You don’t want to let anybody walk out for free. If you can get a lot of money for him… he’s on his last year and still has a value of around £100m. If they can get that for him, it would be great.”
Hazard is currently regarded as one of the best attackers in world football, which, one would argue, could easily escalate his price-tag to anything around £100 given the inflation of the transfer market these days. However, the Belgian’s current contract at Chelsea expires at the end of next season, meaning he could be available on a pre-contract agreement at the start of next year.
Thus, shipping out Hazard in the summer could indeed turn out to be beneficial for Chelsea, who have already secured the services of Christian Pulisic. The USMNT international was purchased from Borussia Dortmund for a fee of £58 million and will join the club in the summer.
The addition of Pulisic will definitely add more youthful exuberance to the Chelsea attack that boasts the services of ageing wingers like Pedro and Willian. But, a lot will depend on whether or not CAS lifts Chelsea’s transfer ban.
The club has often appeared over reliant on the services of Hazard not only in the creative department but also in terms of productivity. The departure of Hazard, therefore, will be a huge blow and given the way the other Chelsea attackers have fared this season, Maurizio Sarri is in desperate need of at least two more new faces in the attacking department.
And the potential £100 million sale of Hazard could help them fund moves for their transfer targets, with Alexander Isak already marked as one of the potential candidates for the Premier League giants this summer. It now remains to be seen if the Blues indeed cash in on their talisman, as Melchiot has suggested.
