Chelsea legend Michael Essien has warned his former side to tie Eden Hazard down to a new deal or risk spending a lot of money in replacing him when he moves.
Hazard has been one of Chelsea’s best players every year since he arrived from Lille in France in 2012, making one forward position his won under all managers so far at the club.
His consistent form has seen him become a long term target for Spain giants Real Madrid with reports saying he he could move to the Santiago Bernabeu next summer. Real are struggling this season in Zinedine Zidane’s third season as head coach after winning back-to-back Champions League trophies and one La Liga title.
Cristiano Ronaldo, despite winning his fifth Ballon d’Or award on Thursday, has seen his form drop drastically this season with only two goals in the Spanish top flight and Real will want Hazard to replace him at the club.
However, the Blues’ former midfielder Essien believes Chelsea would regret letting Hazard switch allegiances next summer.
“At the moment he is the most important player [at Chelsea]. When you have Hazard, he can always do something. He can always create something to do something with the ball. He makes goals for himself or others. He has that magic touch.
I think that Chelsea need to renew his contract. You don’t want your best players to leave and we need him at the club. I think he is only motivated about playing football, he just enjoys playing football. It would take a lot of money to replace him [at Chelsea] but I hope that they can tie him down for a long time.”
Michael Essien, Evening Standard
Hazard was on Thursday voted as the world’s 19th best player by France Football in the 2017 Ballon d’Or.
