Souness tells Hazard to leave and sign for Real Madrid as Sarri told Chelsea £57 million target leaving this summer
Lille president Gerard Lopez says Nicolas Pepe will be sold next season, with Chelsea just one of a number of clubs interested in a possible transfer deal.
We may be facing a transfer ban and unable to sign players for the next two transfer window, but that has not stopped the club eyeing up possible deals just in case FIFA decide to overturn or postpone the ban, which is what we are seriously hoping for.
And one name that has been mentioned about a possible move to London is that of Pepe, as the 23-year-old Pepe is among the most highly-rated forwards in Europe and his transfer value is estimated at more than 50 million euros ($57 million).
Pepe has scored 19 goals in 33 appearances in all competitions this season and has been tipped to become one of the most deadly strikers in the game.
“Four or five players will leave this summer. Nicolas Pepe’s departure is certain,” Lopez told French soccer show Telefoot on Sunday.
“He’s entering a price (salary) range we can no longer pay. He will have a lot of choices.”
Meanwhile, Former Liverpool star Graeme Souness has urged Eden Hazard to leave at the end of the season and sign for Spanish giants Real Madrid.
Hazard has had a magnificent seven seasons with Chelsea and has helped the club to two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and a surprising Europa League crown. But there is much speculation in the media which has all suggested that this could be his final season in England.
And now that Zinedine Zidane is back in charge of the Spanish giants, there is a strong suggestion that the French legend will launch a massive £98 million move to try and secure a big money move for Hazard, who he is a big fan of.
And Souness believes Hazard needs to move on, writing in a column for the Sunday Times: ‘Eden needs the fresh challenge of moving to Real Madrid this summer.
‘I know Chelsea’s fans won’t thank me for saying so and we’ll all miss watching the player who’s probably been the best in the Premier League over the past three or four seasons, but there’s more to come from Hazard and it’s now or never for him to prove that.
‘He needs to be extended and pushed because he’s capable of going to another level, where he scores 30-plus goals a season.’
Souness added: ‘Where will Chelsea be without him? To lose him would be a huge blow because he’s their one outstanding talent.
‘The word is he’s a really good lad, but he can be accused of getting in his armchair a bit during games and drifting out of them. That’s why it’s now or never.
‘He needs to be in a more challenging environment. He has been fabulous for Chelsea but needs to be pushed, by himself or the environment he’s in, to go to the next level.
‘Moving to Real Madrid can bring that out of him.”
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