Transfer Centre

Eden Hazard: 'I will not be leaving Chelsea this month'

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 19 August 2018

Eden Hazard accepts that he will not be leaving Chelsea this summer, a month after declaring that he would be open to a move away from the club.

Chelsea forward Eden Hazard has reiterated that he is "happy" at Stamford Bridge and has no intention of leaving before the end of the month.

The Belgium international was strongly linked with a switch to Real Madrid after hinting earlier this summer that he would be open to a move away.

Hazard, a fan favourite in West London for the past six years, confessed after Belgium's run to the World Cup semi-finals that it "might be time to discover something different" at club level.

That stance has since changed, though, and the 27-year-old - tipped to become the world's best player by boss Maurizio Sarri - accepts that he will remain a Chelsea player until at least next year.

"You know what I said after the World Cup," he told RMC Sport. "I'm happy here, I do not want to talk about that yet. Many things have been said - nonsense and everything.

"For now, I'm happy. I still have two years of contract [left] and we'll see what happens. I will not leave [this year]. The transfer window in England is already closed.

"We can sell but we cannot sign players. It would be a bit strange for [Chelsea] to let me go and not recruit another player. We could see [against Arsenal] that the fans like me a lot. I feel good here. We'll see what happens in a year or two years."

Hazard has bagged an assist in each of Chelsea's first two Premier League games of the season, both coming from the bench.