Jamie Carragher is concerned that Eden Hazard may be on the brink of a Thibaut Courtois-type exit from Chelsea.
With his contract running down, the former Blues goalkeeper was poached by Real Madrid during the summer transfer window, and the ex-Liverpool man thinks a similar situation could arise with Hazard.
Come the summer, Hazard will have 12 months remaining on his current deal, and Chelsea bosses will be left with a decision make.
Foreseeing this, Carragher said (quoted by the Daily Express):
There’s definitely going to be a question asked in January or at the end of the season when he [Hazard] will only have 12 months left [on his Chelsea contract],
Then you are into that Thibaut Courtois territory and he ended up going to Madrid.
Admitting he wasn’t necessarily hoping to see the Belgian forward leave Stamford Bridge, Carragher tried to assess the reality of the situation:
I’m not trying to get Hazard out of Chelsea, but when Madrid or Barcelona come for one of your players it’s so difficult to keep hold of them because it’s every player’s dream, certainly foreign players.
Liverpool have had that with Xabi Alonso and Luis Suarez and even Cristiano Ronaldo left Man United. I think Chelsea will have a problem in the summer.
Hazard showed his skill last night against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup, scoring a marvellous goal to hand the Reds their first defeat of the season.
