LONDON • Chelsea fear it may be a parting gift, but should today's Europa League final be Eden Hazard's last game for the Premier League club, the Belgium forward is determined to go out on a high.
After seven "amazing" seasons at Stamford Bridge, he is expected to move to Real Madrid this summer after running down his contract into its final year.
While a deal has yet to be announced with his long-term suitors, Hazard has shown no interest in extending his contract beyond 2020 and has already told the club where his future lies.
However, Chelsea's position is complicated by a Fifa ban on signing players for the next two transfer windows.
Sell now and as things stand, pending an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, they will be unable to recruit a replacement.
Holding on to him for a further 12 months, though, runs the risk of a player who can leave for nothing next summer rather than for a reported £100 million ($174.5 million) fee.
Having always pledged to depart with a trophy, victory against Arsenal in Baku, Azerbaijan would provide the perfect send-off.
The 28-year-old, who also ruled out playing for another English club, said: "It is a European competition so for me, for the club, for the manager, for the fans, it is something important.
"When you play a final, it does not matter whether it is the Champions League, Europa League or League Cup - you just want to win.
"If it is my last game, I hope to bring (home) the trophy. My first trophy at Chelsea was the (2013) Europa League, so it would be a nice last trophy."
Blues manager Maurizio Sarri, who himself could be headed for pastures new, has also admitted the club "need to be ready if (Hazard) wants something different".
While Hazard, who has also won two Premier League titles, a League Cup and the FA Cup with Chelsea, suggested he would speak about his future only when an agreement has been struck, that could come soon after the Belgian said "after the final, we will see what happens".
He added: "At the moment, nothing has happened, so I can't say anything. It's in the hands of the clubs. But I can put it aside. I have done it during a full season right now and I have played reasonably well. So I stay in that mode, just thinking about football.
"If we go to Baku with a strong approach to the game, we can do something good there."
In his way of a final hurrah stand Arsenal, who like the Blues, are determined to end what has been a topsy-turvy season with silverware.
But unlike Chelsea, Unai Emery's men missed out on Champions League qualification via a top-four finish in the Premier League.
The Arsenal manager knows that with a victory, his players will fulfil "two objectives - to go to the Champions League and after, to play with the titles".
At his pre-match press conference yesterday, the Spaniard said: "I want to do something important here, for example to play for this title. We deserved to be here, we feel to do something here.
"Above all is to enjoy and play with all our good spirit.
"We're playing for our supporters whether they're here or not."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, THE GUARDIAN
CHELSEA V ARSENAL
Singtel TV Ch110 & StarHub Ch214, tomorrow, 2.55am
New Contract for Asian Cup Winning Coach Sanchez Soon, Says QFA Boss. he said he could not "remember". Meanwhile, Qatar are preparing to compete in the Copa America alongside Argentina
Qatar will not get carried away with North Korea win - Sportstar
Real Madrid, Atletico close in on Barcelona Benzema's 13th-minute strike was enough for Real Madrid to move up to third on 29 points, two behind Barcelona, who travel to Levante on Sunday
Real Madrid, Atletico Close in on Barcelona - News18
Puppet uses its own configuration language, which was designed to be accessible to sysadmins. The Puppet language does not require much formal programming experience and its syntax was inspired by the Nagios configuration file format. Resources, classes, and nodes The core of the Puppet language is declaring resources.
Puppet vs Salt - UpGuard
Guardiola's City and Klopp's Liverpool appear increasingly to be the two main contenders in the title race, as the season approaches Guardiola dismisses Klopp's claim that Man City have no
Guardiola Dismisses Klopp's 'No Weaknesses' Claim About Man City
Rescuers said on Thursday they had ended the search for the plane carrying Premier League player Emiliano Sala which disappeared over the English Channel three days ago, adding the chances of
UK rescuers end search for missing plane carrying soccer
World Football. May 4, 2019 / 4:31 PM / 25 days ago Soccer-Atletico slump to biggest defeat of season against ruthless Espanyol (Reuters) - Atletico Madrid fell to their heaviest league
Youngest local SPL Coach, 33, unfazed, Football News & Top
Qatar will not take a decision on whether to expand its 2022 World Cup to 48 teams from 32 until it has seen the details of a feasibility study from FIFA, an official from the country's World Cup
48-team World Cup: Qatar won't decide until it's seen FIFA
Cardiff claim they are shocked by a report that the pilot in the plane crash that killed Emiliano Sala was not qualified to fly at night. The Premier League club said they remain "deeply concerned
Cardiff 'shocked' by Sala pilot report | theScore.com
May 04, 2019 · With a rip-roaring English Premier League title race entering its final week, Liverpool returned to the top of the table with a thrilling victory over Newcastle which ensures the EPL title will be
Official Liverpool FC Store | Liverpool FC Ball
AD
store.liverpoolfc.com/ball
Report Ad
Browse Our Wide Range Of Exclusive Liverpool FC Souvenirs. Shop Online Now.
Liverpool and Arsenal favourites to miss out on a place in the Premier League's top four With the top six in the Premier League already beginning to establish themselves, Callum Rice-Coates
Why Arsenal Are the Favourites To Win the Premier League
Speaking ahead of Cardiff's trip to Arsenal on Tuesday, their first match since Sala's plane vanished, Warnock said it had been the most difficult week of his career and admits he had questioned
Warnock says Sala tragedy is most difficult week of his
Soccer Football - Europa League Quarter Final First Leg - SK Slavia Prague v Chelsea - Eden Arena, Prague, Czech Republic - April 11, 2019 Chelsea's Olivier Giroud celebrates after the match Action
Olivier Giroud demands 'more important' role with Chelsea
0 comments:
Post a Comment