Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri is hopeful star forward Eden Hazard will join N’Golo Kante in pledging his long-term future to the club.
Kante ended any uncertainty about his future at Chelsea by signing a new five-year deal worth £290,000-a-week earlier this week.
The France international was linked with a move to Paris Saint-Germain but the Ligue 1 giants will now have to look elsewhere for a new midfielder.
Chelsea have been trying to secure Hazard’s long-term future for more than a year amid interest from Real Madrid and Sarri hopes Kante’s renewal will convince the Belgian to stay.
“He [Kante] is a very important player for us in the defensive phase and is improving in offensive movements,” the London Evening Standard quote Sarri as saying on Friday. Now he has to improve in the last 20-25 metres, he can score more.
“I don’t know about a new contract [for Eden]. I don’t know about the evolution of a new contract, I think we can do it. I hope so.”
Hazard has arguably been one of the best players in the world since the start of the 2018 World Cup but will only have 12 months left to run on his current deal at the end of the season.
With Chelsea running the risk of being hit with a transfer ban in the near future, resolving Hazard’s long-term future is a top priority for the west London outfit.
Hazard has not scored in his last eight appearances for club and country but still holds a slender lead over Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling (7.90) as the highest WhoScored rated player in the Premier League (7.97) this season.
