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While the Chelsea fans would love to see Alexis Sanchez wear the Blue jersey and play alongside Hazard, chances of that happening are very slim.
Antonio Conte has expressed his admiration for the Chilean and has even said that he would be a "good investment" for the club. There is absolutely no doubt that Sanchez is a top-class player and he would be an asset to any club he joins.
Many have been hurling abuses at the Chelsea board for not making a move for the player but his transfer would not make sense for the club.
Let's take a look at the reasons:
#3 He is NOT a bargain
First things first. Chelsea fans need to understand that Alexis Sanchez is not a bargain buy. I agree that getting a player of his calibre for as less as £25-30m is a steal in this market. Any Premier League club would jump at the chance to sign the player, but that is not the case.
The fee is not a problem. The main problem is his wage demand. Sanchez is asking for a £350,000-400,000-a-week deal. Now that is huge. It would make him the highest paid player in the Premier League.
Now, Chelsea have not paid that much to any player in their history. Eden Hazard earns £200,000-a-week. The Belgian is yet to sign a new contract with the Blues and it is not going to help them to get Hazard to pen a new deal with Sanchez getting that huge an amount. The 27-year-old would also demand the similar wages for a contract extension.
Let's not forget that Sanchez's agent is also asking for a significant fee. It is believed that the agent is asking for £5-10m to close the deal. Given the fact that Chelsea were not willing to pay Mino Raiola his commission for Lukaku, it is highly unlikely that they will make an exception this time.
Just to compare: If Manchester United do sign Sanchez, they would be paying an astonishing £58m/year in wages for just 4 players, whereas Chelsea pay £28m/year for the top 4 earners!
#2 Antonio Conte's future in doubt
There has been some buzz around Stamford Bridge which suggests that Antonio Conte would leave the club at the end of the season, with Chelsea lining up potential candidates to replace the Italian. Conte has also said "anything is possible" regarding his future.
If you look at Chelsea's history, the club has a history of sacking managers. No manager has been able to stay at the club for a long time.
Conte has expressed his admiration for Sanchez and even admitted that he tried to sign him while at Juventus. It is not rocket science that managers would want to get every elite player available in the market in order to compete in the various competitions.
However, how often does that happen at Stamford Bridge? When Jose Mourinho won the league in his 2nd spell at the club, he had asked for certain players in the summer. But all that he got were the likes of Baba Rahman and Papy Djilobodji (no disrespect to either of the players).
I believe that the Chelsea board feels that when the manager is not going to stick around in the near future, there is no need to spend heavily on every player that he wants.
#1 Chelsea's policy would be an issue
Even if Chelsea were able to negotiate with Sanchez and reduce his wage rate (just imagine that for a second), there is no way the club would change their policy of recruiting players.
The club has a policy of handing only a 1-year contract to every player who is 30 years or beyond.
No matter who the player is, the Blues have shown that they would not change their policy. Take a look at John Terry for instance. If that is the case, there is no way that the board would make an exception.
Sanchez mainly relies on his athleticism and given the fact that the player has hardly taken any breaks since 2010 (just 2 summers off), there is a very good chance that he would lose his charm in the near future.
So there is no way the club is going to end up with a player with as staggering a wage rate as Sanchez's with almost no resale value once his contract expires.
I would personally love to see him play for Chelsea. He can provide the charm and spark up front that has been missing. Not to forget, he can also play in the Champions League, which would come in handy when Chelsea face Barcelona next month.
But it is hard to ignore the 3 reasons mentioned above and it is probably owing to these factors that the board is not making a move for the 29-year-old.
