The Chelsea fans here in the Transfer Tavern will be absolutely gutted if one of their star players leave the club. 

After a disastrous summer window, Antonio Conte will be looking to hold on to his star player in this winter window and the next one. Eden Hazard has been long linked with a move to Real Madrid and recent reports seem to suggest that a move may be on the cards from ‘Los Blancos’ for the Belgian superstar.

As Madrid lose ground in the league to Barcelona and in the transfer market to PSG, a big statement is needed in the summer, many of our regulars feel. If that is to happen, the only target big enough to change the mould at the Bernabeu is a player of Hazard’s supreme quality.

Should Madrid flex their financial muscle, Conte will be left with spaces to fill and our landlord thinks he has two names that could come into the squad and really change things around for the Blues…

Emerson Palmieri

The 23-year-old fullback has only a handful of minutes under his belt this season in Serie A and would surely be looking for regular first team minutes elsewhere in a bid to get his career back on track.

The Roma defender would be open to a move to Chelsea to play under Conte and reportedly a fullback is high on the Italian’s wanted list. A snip at £20m, the Brazilian turned Italian citizen could prove a shrewd move on Conte’s part.

Riyad Mahrez

As a direct replacement for the possible departure of Hazard, the former PFA Player of the Year would take to stepping up to the spotlights of Stamford Bridge like a duck to water.

Having already won the Premier League with Leicester City, he comes with the experience and guile of knowing what it takes to win the league, something which will be welcomed by the team that has won the league twice in the past three years.