Chelsea could strengthen by selling Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard
By Travis Tyler
If done properly, Chelsea could turn transfer fees for Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard into several world class players that make the team stronger.
Chelsea has few players who could play on any team in the world. Unfortunately for the Blues, two of those players are often brought up in the same sentence as Real Madrid.
Rumors of Eden Hazard and Madrid have been around since he joined the club. Rumors of Madrid pursuing a goalkeeper have naturally pointed towards Thibaut Courtois. If Real Madrid came in with a massive offer for the two, it would be hard for Chelsea to say no.
Real Madrid is having a poor season (by their standards). They have not spent big money in years. In pursuit of catching back up in La Liga, they could give Chelsea an offer they could not refuse. With Courtois running out of contract and Hazard at his peak, the temptation to sell could be strong.
But if handled carefully, the funds brought in by a sale of the two Belgians could be flipped into upwards of four, ready made starters. The club would lose two of its stars but the team as a whole could become stronger in the process.
This is, of course, a dangerous game to play. If all the targets brought in are good then it helps the club. But even if a few do not settle it will hurt the team.
Tottenham Hotspur learned this lesson when they sold Gareth Bale. They flipped him into Christian Eriksen, Paulinho, Roberto Soldado and Erik Lamela. Only Eriksen and Lamela stayed more than two seasons and only Eriksen locked down a spot as one of the Premier League’s best.
And with other teams knowing Chelsea is suddenly flux with cash, they will inflate their prices when Chelsea calls. Barcelona replaced Neymar with Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele. But other clubs knew Barcelona’s pockets were overflowing and the two replacements cost more combined than Barcelona made off of Neymar.
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Chelsea will need to select their targets and bring them in before selling Courtois and Hazard. Then they need merely signal that they are available to bring Real Madrid and others to the table.
The right scouting can lead to the board finding cheap yet elite players. They did so when they found Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois and can do it again. The club even has examples of more cheap and experienced players: Cesc Fabregas, Diego Costa and N’Golo Kante.
The fear is that the board would fail at the scouting end of things and bring in poor replacements like Spurs did with the Bale money. The club already relies on Courtois and Hazard as it is, they will also need to rely on the replacements.
Selling Courtois and Hazard could hurt the club. But replacing them with quality players and bringing in another one or two players on top of that could make Chelsea a much stronger club.
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It is a delicate balancing act that Chelsea must consider as the transfer window approaches. It has to be done exactly right, but the payoffs could outweigh the cost of seeing Hazard and Courtois in another club’s colors.