Chelsea willing to lose best attacker to shore up shaky defence
Published:
Chelsea are becoming so desperate to land a new centre-half that it is now suggested they’d be willing to offload their best attacking weapon in order to nab one.
According to The Sun, the Blues are considering offering Eden Hazard up as a makeweight in a swap deal with Juventus for experienced defender Leonardo Bonucci.
The Italian has been linked with a switch to west London ever since his former manager, Antonio Conte, rocked up at Chelsea.
Thus far, the four-time Premier League champions have found negotiations with the Turin club extremely tough.
Reports over the past week suggested that the Blues would be willing to offer around £60m to land their man.
However, it now appears that they’d be happy to lose Hazard if it meant adding defensive stability to their ranks.
Swapping the Belgian forward for Bonucci would lower Chelsea’s outlay, with Hazard valued at a hefty £55m by transfer resource website Transfermarkt.
It has been suggested that a change of scenery might be needed in order for the 25-year-old to rediscover his form, after a disappointing campaign last season saw Hazard net just four league goals in 31 outings.
The former Lille man is halfway to matching that tally in seven appearances this term, but is still some way off the standard that saw him claim the PFA Player’s Player of the Year award in 2014/15.
A range of central defenders have been reportedly interesting Conte since he arrived at the Bridge in the summer, however the former Azzurri tactician will have to put up with John Terry, Gary Cahill, David Luiz and Kurt Zouma as his options at the back until January at the very least.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
