Amid the transfer market issues that linked Eden Hazard with Real Madrid, Chelsea’s new manager Maurizo Sarri confirmed the Blues star would not move from Stamford Bridge.
Sarri was confident he could defend Hazard because he was already spoken with the Belgian midfielder.
“Hazard remains with us, I have spoken to him three or four times and he has never brought up the transfer, he is very happy to be here,” Sarri said.
“[Hazard’s departure] is impossible, here [the Premier League] the transfer market has closed so we cannot bring in new players, so that is not possible,” continued the coach who last season handled Napoli.
Chelsea are trying to defend Hazard from the pursuit of other clubs by raising the salaries of player who have been costumed by the Blues since 2012.
But Sarri was reluctant to discuss Chelsea’s strategy so as not to lose the player who captained the Belgium national team in the 2018 World Cup.
“I don’t want to discuss the contract, it’s not my job. My job is to develop players, to win matches, not to sign contracts,” Sarri said.
“But I see a player [Hazard] very happy to be here so I think that [contract] is not a problem,” he continued.
Sarri state that he still opened up opportunities for players other than Hazard, especially those who had minimal contribution to Chelsea to cut the squad.
“I think this squad is too big, So I think some players will be loaned out. But for now I don’t know who. I would rather have 23 or 24 players and three of four players who are very young, no more,” he explained.
In the 2018/2019 season Chelsea have brought Kepa Arrizabalaga, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic. While the player who is permanently released is Thibaut Courtois.
