Eden Hazard is bigger than PSG – Guus Hiddink
Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink has told Eden Hazard to forget about a move to Paris Saint-Germain.
The Dutchman has retained his belief in Chelsea’s misfiring Belgian, who won the Premier League player of the year award last season, but is yet to register a league goal in this campaign.
Hazard has been linked with a move to PSG as Chelsea prepare to meet the Ligue 1 title holders in the Champions League, but Hiddink says the 25-year-old is too good to ply his trade in France.
“He has a contract that he extended, but first he must now get fit and show he is a top player and then for Chelsea, which is a top club, he can be of huge value,” he said.
“In the near future, there will be more speculation about who is coming here or who is going, but I don’t go into that. PSG have big targets to win the Champions League.
“Step by step, they have gathered a reputation that they are very serious to be one of the biggest teams in Europe, so this challenge I can understand.
“But it is a different league, they are now 24 points ahead I think.
“It is not a bad league, but this team is on top of that. For me, I think big, big, big players always like to be in the biggest leagues which are the Premier League and La Liga, and also the Bundesliga.”
While Hiddink has publicly backed Hazard, the wing wizard has not been a guaranteed starter in recent times and the Dutch boss warned that he would not tolerate passengers in a crucial week for the club.
Chelsea need a good result in Paris to keep their Champions League hopes alive, while they return to FA Cup action in a huge fifth-round tie against Manchester City on Sunday, with Hiddink hoping to deliver silverware to salvage a below-par season.
“We have a key week,” Hiddink said.
“We desperately desire the chance to go through to the next round of the Champions League, but also we must take into consideration the second game with Manchester City at the weekend so it’s a nice week for Chelsea.
“We need to show that we can continue what we-ve started, step by step with a few bigger steps into the spring and, hopefully, we can have a beautiful spring.
“This week, in the Champions League and FA Cup, is a key week as to whether we go in a nice flow into the next round of the FA Cup, go further in the Champions League or the other scenario is there.
“I came here and the first thing they said was to get us as soon as possible out of this relegation zone, we were just one point away from the zone. I think in a few weeks the team has restored its confidence a bit, getting some better results, and we hope we can continue with that.”
