Former Chelsea defender Marcel Desailly says Eden Hazard is not irreplaceable at the club. There are strong indications that the Belgian would exit Stamford Bridge next summer as Real Madrid look to bolster their attacking options.

Hazard, Neymar and a few other elite attacking options have been linked to the Santiago Bernabeu. Coach Zinedine Zidane insists that he would not ask for any player in the winter window. The board can go ahead to sign any player when the window opens but more likely the move would be during the summer before or after the World Cup.

Desailly insists that Chelsea would be able to replace the player when he exits as he is not bigger than the club. The winger recently matched Gianfranco Zola goal record at the club when he netted his 80th. He is fully recovered from his injury so the team is benefiting from his talents.

The former Lille forward has not quite shut down speculations linking him to Madrid next summer. It almost seems as if he is expecting a move on him. Desailly says Chelsea would get past losing him just as they did when Didier Drogba had to exit.

“We are still in the season, no player is more important than the club. Even when Drogba left, one of the great players, the spirit of the club continued. They continued to win.

“We will be sad if Hazard has to go but I am sure that Roman Abramovich is still passionate about the club. He will bring in another player that can allow the club to be at the same level again,” the veteran said.

Desailly added that it was nice that Chelsea won the league title last year as they had the advantage. He said the Manchester based sides were still building their teams; Arsenal had issues while Spurs lacked enough winning mentality. He said City can still drop form, just like Napoli did so Chelsea should maintain a top level across their fixtures.