Eden Hazard: Wayne Rooney would be ‘brilliant’ at Chelsea

Eden Hazard has declared his belief that Wayne Rooney would be a “brilliant” signing for Chelsea amid the continuing uncertainty over the Manchester United striker’s future.

The 27-year-old forward has been heavily linked with a move away from Old Trafford this summer after it emerged that he had a transfer request rejected by the Red Devils towards the end of last season.

Arsenal, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain have all been touted as possible destinations for the England international should he opt to leave the Premier League champions.

And Blues playmaker Hazard admits he would welcome the addition of the striker at Stamford Bridge.

“Rooney, Xabi Alonso at Real Madrid, [Daniele] De Rossi [at Roma]. We’ve heard all the names. It’s not up to us who comes in, but it’s exciting,” Hazard told the Independent.

“Rooney would be a brilliant signing. He’s a great player who has the experience, and he’s still only young, at 27. He’s got a few years left to play. But it’s not up to me. It’s not my decision.”

Speaking earlier this week, Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho refused to rule out making a move to bring Rooney to west London.

He said: “It’s a tricky question because I cannot speak about [that]. But you know me and it’s not my kind of character to speak with a bit of hypocrisy and I always say what I think.

“He [Rooney] is a player I like very much but I can say no more than that. Being fast and direct, I like that, but he’s a Manchester United player.”

Rooney is expected to be out of action for a month after being forced to fly home from Manchester United’s pre-season tour of Asia with a hamstring injury picked up in training at the weekend.

He scored 12 league goals and made 10 assists, despite being limited to just 22 top-flight starts for the Red Devils last season.