LONDON, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Chelsea coach Mauricio Sarri has dropped a big hint that his side's Belgian international forward Eden Hazard could be on his way to Real Madrid over the summer.
Speaking to the press after a Hazard masterclass took Chelsea to a 2-0 win over West Ham United with his 18th and 19th goals of the season, Sarri was asked about the future of the player whose contract is up at the end of the 2019-2020 season.
Real Madrid are thought to have identified Hazard as their top target as they look to rebuild after the disasters of this season and when Sarri was asked if Chelsea could afford to lose him, he replied, "from a technical point of view, no, it's impossible to find another Hazard."
"At the moment there isn't another Hazard, his level is so high. You'd have to find two players to make the level of Hazard. So I hope Hazard can stay here, otherwise we'll have to try something different," he said.
The problem facing Chelsea is that with Hazard so far failing to sign a new contract, he could leave for nothing in July 2020, while selling him now would bring in a considerable transfer fee.
"I'm sure the club doesn't want to sell him. But, of course, we all have to respect his decision. He will be entering the last season of contract and, if he wants to have another experience, we'll respect that. We'll try, of course, in any way to convince him, but it's not easy," the coach said.
Real Madrid are thought to be prepared to pay around 100 million pounds, (around 130 million US dollars) for Hazard, but Sarri commented that even if Hazard has just one year left on his current deal, that was "too cheap in this market."
