Hazard feels good but coy over future

Eden Hazard says he is enjoying playing for new Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri but the Belgium star remains coy over his future plans.

Hazard scored his second goal of the season in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Bournemouth as Chelsea made it four successive Premier League victories with Sarri in charge.

The 27-year-old was linked with Real Madrid in the close season and hinted he was keen to leave Stamford Bridge. But Chelsea refused to sell the forward and Hazard, now in his seventh season at Stamford Bridge, is enjoying Sarri’s style of play after the more conservative tactics of former Blues bosses.

“I like to have the ball in the last 30m,” Hazard said, “I like this type of game. It’s completely different than Antonio Conte or [Jose] Mourinho before.”

Hazard’s contract expires in 2020 and the offer of an extension has not been taken up so far by the Belgian. He was a substitute in Chelsea’s first two matches of the season, but was instrumental in the win over Arsenal and then started and scored against Newcastle and the Cherries.

Hazard had expressed frustration at his slow introduction to Sarri’s team after the Arsenal match. Asked how he is feeling now, he said: “Good. You can see on the pitch. Let’s see the future.”

The arrivals of Jorginho, who followed Sarri from Napoli, and Mateo Kovacic, on loan from Real Madrid, have given Chelsea a different dimension in midfield. “The big difference is we bring two players — Jorginho and Kovacic — and they are completely different,” Hazard said. “We just try to keep the ball more often and then when we have a chance to score, we need to score.

“But when we have more ball we can be more dangerous.

“We’re playing good football, so we enjoy. I want to keep this momentum.”