Eden Haz to stay at all costs
® CHELSEA cannot afford to lose the “irreplaceable” Eden Hazard, keeper Thibaut Courtois has warned.
Real Madrid have been long-time admirers of the playmaker.
But team-mate Courtois claims Hazard is as important to the Blues as Cristiano Ronaldo is to the Spanish giants.
“Losing a player like Eden would be bad for us,” said Courtois of his fellow Belgium international.
“Eden is irreplaceable. With the money he will raise you can buy five players, but none of them will be like Eden.
“It would be like Barcelona losing Lionel Messi or Real Madrid losing Cristiano Ronaldo.
“If you excel, there will always be teams interested in signing the biggest players.
“But that’s why if Chelsea have ambition to be the best club in the world, these kind of players have to stay.”
Courtois’ own future has also been the subject of speculation, with Real also having the 25-year-old star on their radar.
His contract expires next year with extension talks having started on a deal that will double his £100,000-a-week pay.
“It has just turned the new year, so we will wait a few weeks and then sit around the table,” he said.
“I’m happy at Chelsea and a deal is close. Has it been a distraction? Not for me. I’m just calm and relaxed because I’m tied to Chelsea.”