Ghanaian midfielder

Hazard has been on the radar of Real Madrid for the past seasons and the Belgian hasn’t hidden his interest in making the move to the 12 times champions of Europe.

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Michael Essien who is currently on holidays in the U.K has lauded Eden Hazard for his great abilities, but he has warned Chelsea to be vigil to avoid losing their talisman to the Spanish giants.

"He could go to Real Madrid to win the Balon d'Or easier," Essien said with a laugh as he spoke with Goal. "When we talk about Eden, he is such a good player. He's very quick, very good on the ball. He's very strong, he may be little but he is strong, trust me! It is hard to get the ball off him.

"He's such a good player and we're happy to have him at Chelsea but I'd understand why Madrid would be looking at him. He is proving it week-in, week-out. At the moment he is the most important player [at Chelsea]. When you have Hazard, he can always do something.

"He can always create something to do something with the ball. He makes goals for himself or others. He has that magic touch. I think that Chelsea need to renew his contract. You don't want your best players to leave and we need him at the club.

"I think he is only motivated about playing football, he just enjoys playing football. It would take a lot of money to replace him [at Chelsea] but I hope that they can tie him down for a long time."

Essien, who was speaking at an event with William Hill Plus, made over 250 appearances for Chelsea winning two league titles, five domestic cups and the Champions League.