SIGN THEM UP NOW! 17
Conte’s desperate for Roman to hand Hazard and Courtois new deals
ANTONIO CONTE wants to see Chelsea secure Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois on new contracts before the Belgians head off to tackle England at the World Cup. Courtois will be into the final year of his deal by the time of next summer’s tournament in Russia and Hazard will have fewer than two years remaining.
The Chelsea manager would like to see a breakthrough in negotiations before the end of the season. ‘The club knows very well the importance of these two players,’ said Conte. ‘I think these two players are very happy to play for this club.
‘It is normal during the season to have the contact between the player — or the agent of the player — and the club. I hope that at the end, Thibaut will sign his contract.
‘If you ask me about these two players, I will be very happy when they can have this deal but this is the responsibility of the club to try to do this.
‘I can give my opinion and for me these two players are two great players, especially because they have a lot of space for improvement. They are very young players and it will be great to keep them with us.’
Conte hailed 25-year-old Courtois as ‘one of the best goalkeepers in the world, maybe the best’ but it was Hazard who dazzled in the win against Newcastle at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Dwight Gayle fired the visitors ahead before goals from Hazard and Alvaro Morata gave Chelsea a half-time lead. Hazard claimed his second with a Panenka-style penalty on the 69th birthday of Antonin Panenka, the Czech striker who pioneered the crafty dink from 12-yards. Hazard has now scored more Premier League goals for Chelsea than Gianfranco Zola and his manager believes there is more to come. ‘I don’t think Eden is at the peak of his career,’ said Conte. ‘You are at the top when you win the Ballon d’Or the first time, when you win the Champions League, when you win the World Cup. At that moment you are at the top of the world so you are a great player.’
Hazard will be 27 next month and Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez believes he has improved in four and a half years since he was his manager at Chelsea. ‘He was already very good but he’s more mature and better with his decision-making,’ Benitez said. ‘When you play a lot of games you learn and you know when you can make the difference and you are aware that you can make a difference.’ Belgium were grouped with England in Friday’s World Cup draw, which will generate plenty of dressing-room humour in the weeks ahead. Conte was searching for a diplomatic answer to the question of which nation he might support in Italy’s absence when Courtois butted in and yelled: ‘Belgium!’ England, meanwhile, have six months to study Hazard and form a plan to keep him quiet. ‘Eden’s a world-class player and in top form,’ said Victor Moses, the Chelsea wing-back. ‘He was doing some amazing stuff, stuff to make you think ‘‘Wow’’. Sometimes he’ll just get the ball and put it through your legs without you even knowing. ‘He’s a great player and we’re just happy to have him and we’re pleased he’s enjoying his football again. Hopefully he carries on the way he is. We want him to keep on scoring goals. Stopping him will be hard for England.’
CHELSEA (3-5-2): Courtois 6; Azpilicueta 6.5, Christensen 6 (Cahill 80min), Rudiger 6; Moses 7, Fabregas 7 (Bakayoko 78), Kante 7.5, Drinkwater 6, Alonso 6; Morata 7, HAZARD 8 (Willian 78). Subs not used: Caballero, Zappacosta, Pedro, Batshuayi. Scorers: Hazard 21, 74 pen, Morata 33. Booked: None. Manager: Antonio Conte 6. NEWCASTLE UNITED (3-4-2-1): Darlow 6.5; Mbemba 5, Lejeune 5, Clark 5; Manquillo 5, Diame 4.5 (Shelvey 75, 4), Merino 5 (Yedlin 85), Ritchie 5; Murphy 5, Perez 5 (Hayden 61, 5); Gayle 5.5. Subs not used: Elliot, Aarons, Joselu, Mitrovic. Scorer: Gayle 12. Booked: Clark. Manager: Rafa Benitez 5. Referee: Kevin Friend 6. Attendance: 41,538.