Eden Hazard has performed a U-turn and told Chelsea he wants to stay this summer.
It
felt a foregone conclusion around Christmas that the 25-year-old would
be sold at the end of the season, with Paris Saint-Germain and Real
Madrid among those interested in the Belgium international.
Yet
club insiders said on Wednesday that Hazard is ‘100 per cent prepared
to stay’ and that he has told Chelsea he wants to work with Antonio
Conte next season.
After
scoring his first Barclays Premier League goal this season at
Bournemouth a fortnight ago, Hazard equalised against Tottenham Hotspur
after coming on as a substitute on Monday night.
Not
only did it save Chelsea from losing to their London rivals at home for
the first time in 26 years, it dumped Tottenham out of the title race
and confirmed Leicester City as champions.
Hazard won the PFA Player of the Year last season when Chelsea won the title under Jose Mourinho.
He
signed a new five-and-a-half-year contract worth £200,000 per week in
February 2015 and knows he has not been up to the standard expected this
season.
Sources
close to Hazard say he is desperate to prove himself at Chelsea again,
despite the player having admitted in February that he would find it
‘hard to say no’ if PSG came calling.
Zinedine
Zidane, Real Madrid’s manager, is also a known admirer. Conte is
prepared to give him his chance and the Italy head coach will take over
at Chelsea this summer once Euro 2016 ends.
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