Jose Mourinho insists Eden Hazard loves playing in England, and the Chelsea boss has no concerns the Belgian could seek to evade the heavy tackles of the Premier League by moving abroad.
Hazard has long spoken of his admiration for Zinedine Zidane, leading to speculation of a potential move to Real Madrid, while Paris St Germain were linked with the playmaker last term.
The 23-year-old, who is in his third season at Chelsea after joining from Lille in June 2012, is in advanced discussions over a contract extension which Mourinho expects to be a formality.
And the Blues boss does not expect the mercurial Hazard to disappear despite warning after the loss at Tottenham that the physical nature of English football means “maybe one day we won’t have Eden Hazard”.
“I think he loves it here. I think so,” Mourinho said. “I think, I hope, he will stay.”
Mourinho last season often bemoaned the frequency of fouls on Hazard and has again repeated his complaint, calling on officials to protect his prized asset by punishing persistent offenders.
“The first free-kick of every game is somebody kicking him,” Mourinho said. “He has fouls and fouls and fouls. I don’t see many yellow cards.
“Sometimes a yellow card is a consequence of violent conduct, but I also think that accumulation of small fouls is also violent conduct.
“The kid is suffering the consequences of that, but playing amazingly well.
“Against Tottenham he was amazing. Even in the second half, with a difficult result to face, and to have the determination to keep believing till the end. He was fantastic.”
Hazard could be afforded a rare rest for today’s FA Cup third-round clash with Watford at Stamford Bridge.
Diego Costa, too, is likely to come out of the starting XI, with a possible FA Cup return for Didier Drogba.
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