How Chelsea could line up next season with or without Hazard after Pulisic signing

NO SOONER had Chelsea announced the £58million arrival of Christian Pulisic than the worry began.

Some Blues fans did not so much smell a rat as see one.

Plenty convinced themselves that the signing of Pulisic from Borussia Dortmund, plus the fact that he was being loaned back to the Bundesliga outfit until the summer, added up to one inevitable conclusion.

That Eden Hazard WILL be leaving Stamford Bridge in the summer.

After all, having already spent money on a squad replacement (although US winger Pulisic plays off the right flank, rather than the left), it enables the Blues to play hardball with Real Madrid over the fee they will have to pay to land the Belgian.

Of course, there is reason for that.

Hazard - and, in particular, his father and agent - has never hidden his admiration for Real. They are the biggest club in the world, after all.

Real, in turn, have tracked the Belgian for three years at least. This summer might be the time for them to push the button.

And, in truth, the “football maths” might be correct.

This might indeed be the cue for Chelsea to cash in, especially if they sense Hazard is looking to run down his current contract and not sign a new one.

But there are just as many reasons to suspect Chelsea are thinking very differently.

The Blues need a striker and see Mauro Icardi as their No1 target - Alvaro Morata is a spent force and Olivier Giroud not an elite-level striker.

The Inter Milan captain, who has 120 goals in 201 appearances playing as a lone striker for the club, could be bought using money raised from the sale of Hazard.

Or, if Chelsea manage to get rid of the deadwood from their squad - Morata, Victor Moses, Danny Drinkwater, Davide Zappacosta, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Michy Batshuayi et al - they could raise enough funds for the Argentinian.

Chelsea are, possibly, hedging against the biggest threat of all - the heavy hand of Fifa.

The fact that Pulisic is a right-sider could be more instructive, with Maurizio Sarri such a devotee of the 4-3-3 system.

In his current squad, there are three players who can play in that role on the right of the attacking trident.

To be fair, Moses has not filled that position since before Antonio Conte came to the club.

The Italian converted the former Palace and Wigan flier into a wing-back and he is seen, seemingly, as third-choice understudy for a primarily defensive role under Sarri. His Chelsea future, it appears, is extremely limited.

Sarri has, instead, varied between Pedro and Willian.

Both have chipped in with goals and assists, though maybe not as many as expected.

Both - the Brazilian in particular - have received degrees of stick from the Chelsea fans.

Both are out of contract in 2020.

And both are the wrong side of 30, with Pedro 32 by the time next season starts, Willian 31.

One of them will leave, surely. Perhaps, the pair.

It makes commercial sense - a decent fee with a year to go, and being replaced by a younger, fresher and ambitious model.

Chelsea fans are also perplexed by the club’s seeming desire to let Callum Hudson-Odoi leave, potentially as soon as this month, if Bayern Munich are ready to stump up an acceptable fee.

That the youngster has talent is clear. Whether he is Premier League ready is another question and it may be that Chelsea will seek to write a guaranteed first option buy-back clause into any sale deal.

But there is also a big shadow hanging over the club.

Along with Manchester City - and, we are led to believe, at least two more Prem clubs - Chelsea are being investigated by Fifa over their recruitment of under-16s from around the world.

In recent years, Real, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona have all been investigated and punished - with transfer bans of varying lengths - over similar breaches of regulations that Chelsea are alleged to have made.

If the club does fear a ban this summer, then signing Pulisic now ensures he will be available for next term no matter what happens. He is already a Chelsea player.

As ever in football, much is conjecture.

Hazard, alone, will decide his future.

Pedro and Willian may look to cut a deal.

Hudson-Odoi could, yet, be promoted into Sarri’s first-team thoughts.

But landing Pulisic cannot be a bad move. And, in the meantime, he is still available to help Dortmund against Spurs in the Champions League next month.

Not that Chelsea fans really needed an extra reason to back the Germans in that one...