Maurizio Sarri believes Chelsea must “respect” Eden Hazard’s decision on his future amid intense speculation linking him with a move to Real Madrid this summer.
Hazard is said to be one of Zinedine Zidane’s number one transfer targets as he looks to rebuild his squad and close the gap to runaway La Liga champions Barcelona, who are 15 points clear of Los Blancos with two games remaining.
The Belgian scored the decisive penalty against Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday to send Chelsea to the Europa League final in what was potentially his final game at Stamford Bridge, and featured from the bench in the Blues’ final game of the season against Leicester City.
And following Sunday’s goalless draw with the Foxes, Sarri revealed to Sky Sports that he hopes Hazard will stay at the club, but believes it is important to respect the Belgian’s decision this summer.
We know for the fans [Hazard] is very important. We know Eden has played here in Chelsea for seven seasons; he tried in every match to do his best and now it is time to respect his decision. I hope he will remain with us.
Hazard has one year remaining on his Chelsea contract and could play his final game for the Blues in the Europa League final against Arsenal later this month.
