Real edging closer to James Rodriguez

Real Madrid are edging closer to clinching the signing of Colombian winger James Rodriguez from AS Monaco.
The 23 year old was the recipient of the Golden Boot as the top scorer in the World Cup with six goals as he led the Colombian to the quarter finals in a team that lacked their biggest star in the form of Radamel Falcao. And that led to his stock rising manifolds with many European heavyweights keen on bringing the former FC Porto player to their clubs.

Real Madrid is keen to bring in the winger to the Santiago Bernabeu as they look to ship Argentine winger Angel di Maria with several Premier League clubs interested in his services and are willing to use the cash from his sale to fund a move for Rodriguez. Continue reading Real edging closer to James Rodriguez

Mourinho Comes With Praise Of Hazard

Chelsea manager José Mourinho has once again come in with full praise of midfielder Eden Hazard by saying that the Belgian international has the ability to create something out of nothing. He says that such players will be crucial to the Chelsea success in the coming years. Hazard is regarded as one of the best young players in the world. Last season was his most successful for Chelsea after scoring almost 20 goals and creating the same number through assists. Even though there were suggestions of fallout between Hazard and Mourinho towards the end of last season, it seems that they have made the differences.

Chelsea have already sold a couple of stars like Juan Mata and David Luiz in the last few months. There has been a suggestion that Hazard could also be sold in the summer transfer window. However, Mourinho has ruled out the departure of the 23-year-old by saying that he is one of the important players for Chelsea. It seems that he is planning to build a team around Hazard. The youngster is currently with the Belgian international team at the World Cup looking to get his team to the latter stages of the competition. Belgium will be taking on the United States in the last 16.

“I understand this beauty and these magic moments he [Hazard] brings to the game are what the fans enjoy the most. Obviously the fans enjoy and respect people like Gary Cahill, Cesar Azpilicueta, John Terry – people that are so stable during the season and do an incredible job for the team – but people like Eden bring the magic and win matches in one action. They have the flair and the artist’s touch of the football. Next season will be very, very difficult, even more so,” said Mourinho.

Hazard Has No Intention Of Joining Paris St. Germain

Chelsea star Eden Hazard has revealed that he has no intention of joining French club Paris St Germain and that he is 100% sure to stay at Chelsea in the coming season. There have been several transfer rumours linking him with the French club in the last few months. The former Lille player may be a Belgian International, but he has been playing in France for several years. A result, he holds a huge admiration for PSG, who now can offer him without a shadow of doubt following the investment from Qatari owners.

PSG only recently secure the signing of David Luiz from Chelsea for £ 50 million, but there have been rumours that they will break the world transfer record with any offer for Hazard. The 23-year-old is currently with the Belgian national team in the World Cup 2014. He has confirmed that he will stay at Chelsea next season, while there is even the possibility of signing a new contract as well. Despite having three years left on his current deal, it is thought that Chelsea are interested in offering him a new five-year contract that will see his wages move up to £ 200,000 per week.

Last season, he was criticised by Jose Mourinho for not working hard enough in the defensive areas.

“I won’t go to PSG, I am staying at Chelsea 100 per cent. We are talking with Chelsea about a contract extension, but there’s no hurry on that. Of course in football you never know but I am under contract with Chelsea and I want to stay there. It is only the beginning of the talks right now so we have time, but the fact that Chelsea have offered me a new deal means they have a lot of confidence in me that I can do a good job and that they can count on me,” said the player.

Hazard Named As Chelsea Player Of The Year

Chelsea star Eden Hazard has stated that he tries to play football the same way every time, but sometimes it does not come about successful. The Belgian midfielder has been one of the best players in the Premier League this campaign. He won the PFA Young Player of the Year award this season, but lost out to Luis Suarez for the senior award. During the end of the season awards at Chelsea, Hazard was named as the club’s Player of the Year.

The award was presented to him by manager José Mourinho, who has been engaged in a war of words with the players over the last few weeks. The fallout was due to the Champions League exit at the hands of Atletico Madrid. Hazard criticised the manager for his defensive tactics in the match, while Mourinho responded by saying that it was the players mistake to allow the opposition to score two of the three goals. After having finished the season with 17 goals for the season, the midfielder says that he is now looking to score more goals next campaign.

It is heavily expected that Chelsea will strengthen the squad up front by buying a couple of prolific strikers, as this was their major problem throughout the season.

“I know maybe I have to do better in training or on the pitch. I want to score more and help the team score more goals and next season I hope we can be better. I try to play like I did when I was a young boy playing in my garden. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not so good but I try to always make sure I give my best to help the team, even if I am not having the best game myself,” said Hazard after scooping up the club awards.

HAZARD: WE WERE TIRED

Chelsea superstar Eden Hazard has claimed that the 3-1 defeat against Paris St Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals first primarily because the Premier league outfit were tired. Chelsea conceded a goal after just three minutes when John Terry clearing header fell right into the path of Ezequiel Lavezzi. He powered home a stunning half volley, which gave PSG tremendous amount of confidence. However, Chelsea managed to wake-up from the poor start and dominate the first half. They got their deserved equaliser from Eden Hazard’s penalty after Oscar was brought down by defender Thiago Silva.

The penalty also gave Chelsea a crucial away goal, which would be massive over the two legs. However, they were unable to follow to this lead for much long into the second-half after the David Luiz scored an own goal from a set piece. From then on in, PSG started dominating the encounter. Hazard has claimed after the match that Chelsea are not be able to influence the match in the second half because they were tired after having played in numerous matches in the last few weeks. Javier Pastore’s late third goal meant that any hopes of reaching the semifinals have almost vanished.

Lavezzi has said that he wants to end any hopes of a comeback in the second leg.

“We had the game in our hands in the first half. We came back good and we managed the game. But the second half was complicated. We were a bit tired and it felt that way towards the end. Now there’s a return leg and we will do everything to push [PSG],” said Hazard, who has been courted by the French outfit for several months now. “I’m not worried about Chelsea pulling off a repeat of their comeback against Napoli because this is a completely different team and we hope to go through,” said Lavezzi.