Under-fire Jose Mourinho has received backing from an unlikely source after Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard said that he would like the play under the manager. While the Belgian is likely not join Manchester United, Eden Hazard is believed to be passing a message to Real Madrid President Fiorentino Perez.
Jose Mourinho, who is good terms with the Madrid boss could potentially replace Julen Lopetegui in the event that Real Madrid decides to relieve the Spaniard of his duties.
Hazard has made it clear that he would join the Bernebeu, if Jose Mourinho was to be hired as the trainer. In a media press with Belgium Newspaper HLN, Hazard said: : “The last season under Mourinho was not pleasant any more, we didn’t win, we got into a sort of routine, training, training without having fun, it was better for all parties the collaboration came to an end. But if I’m now asked one coach with whom I want to work again, then I say Mourinho.
“If you win, Mourinho is the best coach you can imagine. Then he is a friend of yours – you can do whatever you want. Want one day off, he gives you two. If everything goes well, Mourinho will experience football like me: with ease. Even his own image of an extremely defensive coach was not too bad. He is far from adventurous like [Pep] Guardiola, but the year in which we became champions, we have made many goals and played good games.
“I do not regret many things in my career, but that I have not been able to work with Mourinho at Chelsea any more [is one]. We had a team to get a lot of prizes, but we just ended up in a negative spiral.”
Hazard also admitted he was partly to blame for Mourinho’s downfall, adding: “I have had one bad year – the last six months under Mourinho – and it was partly my own fault. After the title, we had asked Mourinho for extra holidays. I was totally out of shape at the start of the season. I remembered that lesson this summer – four weeks after the World Cup, I was back in training at Chelsea.”
While he waits for a signal from Real that they will make a big push to sign him next summer, Hazard has promised to stop speaking about the European champions: “Let me put it this way: if I ever play for Real Madrid, I will be very happy, and if I will never play for Real, it is because it is not allowed. Then I’ll be happy at Chelsea.”