Chelsea: £100 million for Eden Hazard will still leave Blues empty-handed

Even the £100 million Chelsea want for Eden Hazard will not be enough to replace him. There simply are no players on the market who will bring to Stamford Bridge what the Belgian will take with him to Real Madrid.

Eden Hazard’s move to Real Madrid looks possible more than ever before. Hazard has never been shy of admitting his dream of playing for Real. In the past the transfer saga was a doubtful affair as the Spanish capital had Cristiano Ronaldo. The Belgian’s move during those times had a slim chance of going through. But now that Ronaldo has left, Zinedine Zidane is back in charge and Madrid are struggling, Los Blancos are desperate to get a world-class player on board.

Real have already had Chelsea reject their opening bid for the Belgian. The west London club have put a £100 million price tag on their little wizard. Zidane admires Hazard and vice-versa, Real definitely have the money to spend and probably will get Hazard on board and make him a galactico. At 28 years old, Hazard would push for a move as he knows this might be his last chance of getting his dream.

Chelsea hope to cash in on the superstar rather than keeping him for another season and see him leave for free next season. Even though they will get an upwards of £100 million for him, they will still end up empty-handed.

Let’s assume Chelsea avoid the ban this summer and go looking for players to replace Eden Hazard. There aren’t any players available on the transfer market who are anywhere near Hazard’s level.

Over the seven years the Belgian has played in the Premier League, he has always topped the charts for most take-ons completed and fouls won. His deadly turning ability and will to take on defenders 1v1 is the best in the league and top three in Europe. Arguably only Neymar and Lionel Messi are better at dribbling than Hazard. But Neymar plays in Ligue 1, and the standard in France is not as high and intense as in England.

Chelsea surely cannot land Neymar or Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain, and the thought of Lionel Messi coming to Stamford Bridge is equally outrageous. To spend the £100 million the management will look towards wingers who are available or ones they could pursue.

There are a few good wingers with whom Chelsea can hope to fill in Hazard’s boots, but none would be like their mercurial Belgian.

Memphis Depay is in hot form right now with Lyon and Netherlands. He has blistering pace and tremendous skills the world has seen over the years. He has Premier league experience, as well, and in January 2019 said “Lyon is a big club, but not one of the five best in Europe. I want to go to a club like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich.”

Of all the clubs he mentioned in his statement only Chelsea are the team that need a new winger and would be interested in Depay.

Serie A sensation Federico Chiesa is writing headlines with his performances at Fiorentina. Having scored six goals and assisted seven in 28 league games, the Italian is grabbing attention of clubs around Europe and Chelsea seem interested, too. Reportedly Chiesa wants a move to London as well. If the deal goes through and he joins Chelsea, he’ll need time to adjust to the Premier League’s pace and physicality. Angel Di Maria, Radamel Falcao and Jorginho struggled to adjust to and keep up with Premier League standards. At 21, Chiesa is no way near the ability and creativity of Hazard.

Chelsea made an approach for Leon Bailey in January, as reported by his agent. Bailey is drawing eyes with his performances but has only five goals in 35 appearances across all competitions. It’s too soon to judge the youngster and he might not be up for the Premier League challenge right now. He represents a huge gamble for the Blues.

Christian Pulisic will be making his move to west London next season. He has displayed his skills on the pitch and looks a bright talent who is really driven and passionate for the game.

Similar to Hazard, he has quick feet and great close ball control, though he does not use body feints as much as Hazard does. Pulisic is not an out-and-out winger. He can be deployed on the wing and in the midfield as well. He has 15 league games with Borussia Dortmund this season and has played most of them as an attacking midfielder or right midfielder. Expecting Pulisic to overtake Hazard’s duties would be going overboard.

No matter which player Chelsea buys with the probable £100 million, in no way will he be able to replace a man who single-handedly carries Chelsea in tough situations, winning matches on his own and earning a point in situations where all seems lost.

Losing Hazard would be a big blow for Stamford Bridge, one they will eventually recover from but not with any one replacement in the upcoming windows.