If Chelsea Need to Raise a £100M Transfer Kitty, Who Should They Sell?

Eden Hazard is good, but he's not indispensable.

If Chelsea are chasing funds to reinvest back into their squad through the sale of players this summer, they shouldn't be looking beyond their biggest star.

It's a view that will divide opinion. Indeed, it's one that, on the surface of it, smacks of gross delusion. By definition, elite clubs shouldn't be selling their biggest names; rather, they should be adding to them.

Yet Chelsea's predicament when it comes to Hazard isn't as black-and-white as that perspective would have us believe. The factors to consider are plenty—notably, how a failure to reinvest in their squad in 2015 ultimately cost them the following campaign when, despite being reigning champions, they crashed and burned.

There is a solid truth at the heart of any decision to sell Hazard. In the modern game, footballers are commodities, and for what Chelsea can gain from Hazard's sale, Antonio Conte can make his side more formidable than it already is.

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The Italian has shown this year that his team isn't about superstars. It is about a collective working in unison to achieve something that was unthinkable when he first arrived last summer.

With 10 games to go, Chelsea are already on the march to being Premier League champions. Since October, when Conte finally aligned his squad into his way of thinking, the Blues have made a mockery of the title race. They've taken control at the top, winning 13 games on the bounce through to early January.

Nobody has been able to keep up with that pace; not the might of Manchester United, not Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool, and certainly not manager Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, regardless of the mystique he carries.

Conte's success hasn't been about Hazard. It's been about a core group of players, and as Chelsea count down the matches to when they can be officially confirmed as champions, the club will have one eye on returning to the Champions League next term.

When that happens, Conte's core has to be expanded. And Hazard doesn't necessarily have to be part of it. He can play a more influential role on the pitch than he ever has; his transfer value can give Conte the options he doesn't have right now.

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Real Madrid have long been sniffing, and they seem to be coming back for Hazard this summer.

Now, as the season's climax draws ever closer, the rumours about their interest are resurfacing. The Real powerbrokers are strategically positioning themselves to pounce.

They even have former president Ramon Calderon cheerleading for them.

"£100 million is now the bar," the Spaniard said regarding the transfer of elite players, per Metro.co.uk's Coral Barry. "[…] Real Madrid is healthy—I don't think that would be a problem for them [to pay for Hazard]."

Rather than carrying a feeling of apprehension, Chelsea fans should look beyond the player and see the bigger picture. Hazard has been their talisman of sorts, yet he isn't in the same bracket as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Those players are irreplaceable, whereas Hazard isn't at Chelsea.

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He has moments of brilliance that clearly define his class, but compare him to others in the Premier League and abroad and he's not in a class of his own. Like so many others, he sits on the B-list behind Ronaldo and Messi. He can disappear at times, lacking that killer instinct that sets Messi and Ronaldo apart.

Hazard makes a big contribution to Chelsea. That said, it isn't a £100 million contribution. If Real Madrid are serious about coughing up that sort of money, the Blues should be biting Real's hands off and pushing the deal over the line before the summer window even opens.

They have their own game-changers still, notably the impressive Pedro, who has come to prominence this term. Diego Costa is their main goal threat, while Cesc Fabregas provides another dimension.

Lewis Baker can't be described as Hazard's equal, yet this summer he will return to Chelsea after a successful spell in the Netherlands with Vitesse Arnhem. A tantalising prospect, he provides an option to freshen up Chelsea's attack.

When we consider that players such as Alexis Sanchez—entering the last year of his contract at Arsenal, no less—may well be on the market, the Blues have potential options outside of their dressing room, too. Sanchez is just one name among many.

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Hazard isn't the be-all and end-all; that's the point here. And what £100 million—not to mention extra investment from owner Roman Abramovich—can give Conte far outreaches the Belgian's influence.

Besides, how committed is Hazard to Chelsea? Only the player can answer that question, as we've only received mixed messages in the past. He hasn't ruled out a move away, but he hasn't committed his future to the club, either.

It's akin to when Hazard joined Chelsea in 2012 from Lille. Back then, he left the world of football waiting to see where he would move, before he sent a tweet that announced it would be Chelsea. He was teasing.

He seemed to revel in the mystery of it all at the time, and now it feels similar. We're all waiting with bated breath as to what he will do come the summer.

For Chelsea, they don't need that thought to be lingering. As close as they may be to restoring their position as English champions, the rebuilding of the club remains in its infancy. Conte has a long way to go if he's to re-establish the Blues on the European stage, and he doesn't need a will-he-won't-he saga to derail it.

If Hazard becomes a casualty of the process to make Chelsea a juggernaut, then so be it. Losing him to Real Madrid or another suitor willing to pay that extortionate £100 million fee would open more doors than it closes.