Chelsea boss Antonio Conte warns Barcelona off Eden Hazard as Spanish giants eye possible replacement for PSG-bound Neymar
Conte in blunt message to Barca over Belgian winger who has already been targeted by Real Madrid
ANTONIO CONTE has told Barcelona they are wasting their time coming after Chelsea ace Eden Hazard.
Reports in Spain suggest the Belgian winger is now being targeted by Barca as they look to build a squad capable of wrestling the La Liga title back off Real Madrid.
European champions Real have already made a major play to try to snatch Hazard away from Stamford Bridge with little success.
And Chelsea boss Conte has delivered a blunt message to Barcelona officials they will have no chance of signing the 26-year-old.
Conte, speaking in Singapore where Chelsea are preparing to face Inter Milan tomorrow, was asked about the Barca interest.
The Italian said: "I don't know anything about this situation. In the past I read a lot of stories about Real Madrid and now there is Barcelona.
"This is the transfer market and we must understand this.
"Will Hazard stay with us? Yes. He is very happy to stay with us and to play for Chelsea."
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Conte sees Hazard as one of the main men in his squad to base his team around and no money would be enough to persuade him to sell.
Real had been linked with a £70million summer bid earlier in the close season, but found little joy when they sounded out the Premier League champions.
Barcelona's interest appears to stem from fears they will not be able to persuade Liverpool to sell Philippe Coutinho.
The reports in Spain suggested they had made Hazard their back-up option, although Chelsea have made it clear it is not an avenue to pursue.
Hazard is currently back in England at the club's training centre working on an intensive rehabilitation programme looking to speed up his return to fitness.
The winger suffered a broken ankle training with Belgium in June, which specialists fear will keep him out of action until the end of September.
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