Should Eden Hazard — who made some alarmingly eye-opening comments following Belgium’s 2-0 victory over England in the 2018 World Cup third-place game on Saturday — leaves Stamford Bridge in the coming days or weeks, a whole host of other key players could very well follow suit — quotes form Sky Sports:
“After six wonderful years at Chelsea it might be time to discover something different. Certainly after this World Cup. I can decide if I want to stay or go, but Chelsea will make the final decision, if they want to let me go. You know my preferred destination.”
Considering Real Madrid has been the club most commonly linked with a mega-money move for Hazard in recent weeks — and doubly so following Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer to Juventus — many have chosen to infer Los Blancos as Hazard’s “preferred destination.”
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has curtailed his exorbitant, free-spending ways (to a degree) in recent years — much to the chagrin and disdain of Conte, which ultimately played a part in his departure — and the Blues fell back into the pack last season, finishing fifth in the PL. New manager Maurizio Sarri has an experienced, but aging, squad to work with. A widespread makeover will be necessary inside 24 months, and selling Hazard for a fee approaching $200 million wouldn’t be the least effective way to fund such an undertaking.