Antonio Conte insists that Real Madrid target Eden Hazard can fulfil his footballing ambitions at Chelsea, and believes the Blues are laying the “foundations” for future success with their domestic achievements this season.
Speculation linking Hazard with a summer move to Madrid intensified during the international break, with Spanish newspaper Marca reporting that the European champions want to make the Belgian winger their next Galactico signing and claiming that Chelsea have already indicated they will consider a suitable offer.
Hazard has rediscovered his best form this season, contributing 11 goals and four assists in 26 Premier League appearances to help propel Chelsea 10 points clear at the top of the table. And Conte is adamant that no other elite club can offer the 26-year-old a better chance to add to his list of achievements.
“In this situation I think the will of the player is very important,” Conte admitted. “If the player is happy and the player knows he will stay in a great team with great ambition, I don’t see any problem, even if this club calls itself Real Madrid.
“We are in a great club. We started to build something good for the future, and the ambitions of this club are the same as mine and my players. We stay in the right place if you want to be competitive in the game, be competitive in the future. I hope to play in the Champions League next season.
“I’m sure about this, that [Hazard would] be staying in the right place, in a great club with great ambition. I can say this with 100 percent [confidence].”
Chelsea’s stance is that Hazard is not for sale at any price, and their position is strengthened by the fact that the Belgian still has more than three years left to run on a long-term extension signed in February 2015.
A report by talkSPORT on Friday claimed that Chelsea expect to sign Hazard to a new five-year contract worth up to £300,000-a-week this summer, but Conte does not believe the agreement of a new deal will be the key factor in convincing the 26-year-old that his long-term future lies at Stamford Bridge.
“No, I don’t think so,” Conte added. “I think it’s very important to stay, to feel that you stay in the right place with ambition. This type of player, when you arrive at being a top player, you want to fight to win and be competitive in every trophy you have to play for.
“I think, I repeat, we are building something important together. We have just started our building. Now we are putting the foundations in. If we are able to win the league this season, I repeat, I think we’ll be [on] an incredible path, an incredible thing because we are in a moment that the club is in transition.
“A lot of old players [Branislav Ivanovic, John Obi Mikel] have finished their careers with Chelsea. To win this season is great. I think we are putting great foundations down to build something important for the future. I think the players feel this.”
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