Former England striker Stan Collymore has advised Chelsea to offload Eden Hazard, and offered a damning forecast for the Belgian playmaker’s career.
Headlines linking the attacking midfielder with a move away from Stamford Bridge dominated the back pages on Saturday.
According to The Sun, Hazard was one of two players—along with Juventus’s Paul Pogba—being targeted by new Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane. The club legend replaced Rafael Benitez earlier this week, with the tabloid reporting that he’s been handed a £250 million war chest by Florentino Perez with which to buy the talent required to restore Real’s status.
Hazard is valued at £100 million by Chelsea, according to The Sun, although Zidane—who admitted to Fifa.com last spring that he was an admirer of the player—will likely have the resources to make the move possible. Los Blancos may face competition for the attacker, with Manchester United [Daily Star], Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich [both Daily Mail] all tipped to be keen on the former LOSC Lille man.
According to Collymore, writing in his column in the Sunday People via the Mirror, Chelsea should bite the hand off any offer forthcoming from Los Merengues, and has advised Guus Hiddink and Roman Abramovich not to hesitate in offloading the attacker.
“If Real Madrid or Bayern Munich offer £60 million for Eden Hazard in the summer then Chelsea should bite their hands off,” the former Liverpool and Nottingham Forest striker began.
“I’d let him go if I were in charge at the Blues, I really would,” he continued.
SEE MORE:
Jordan Ayew tipped for Tottenham Hotspur transfer; Ghana striker linked to Aston Villa exit
Bad news for Klopp: Liverpool & Barcelona set to miss out on South American forward
Liverpool target & South American forward wanted by Serie A high-flyers
“The Belgian clearly feels he has the ability and mentality to rival Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi , but I don’t think he has.”
Finally, the controversial pundit concluded by predicting that if Hazard does go to Real, it would be bad for his career in the long run.
” Should he get his move to Real I’m convinced he will end up getting eaten up and spat out to a Schalke or a Bayer Leverkusen in two or three years, leaving Chelsea laughing all the way to the bank.”