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Real Madrid pushing Chelsea for transfer swap

By Rucker Haringey

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 04: Eden Hazard of Chelsea celebrates with team-mates after scoring his team's second goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on February 4, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 04: Eden Hazard of Chelsea celebrates with team-mates after scoring his team's second goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on February 4, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images) /
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Real Madrid don’t just want Chelsea’s money

Chelsea clearly have their sights set on signing Alvaro Morata away from Real Madrid this summer. Los Blancos are happy to send their talented centre forward to Stamford Bridge under the right circumstances.

Unfortunately for Antonio Conte and the Blues, a mountain of cash might not be enough to bring the Spanish forward to Chelsea. Real Madrid have their eyes on something much more valuable. Reports from Spain claim they want to include Morata in a swap deal for either Eden Hazard or Thibaut Courtois.

It’s safe to say that swapping for Morata for Hazard is pure fantasy. The Belgian attacker is arguably Conte’s most dangerous attacker this season. He is prone to bouts of inconsistency, but when he’s in form there’s no more dangerous attacker in the world.

Sending him to Spain in exchange for anything short of a world-class player in return would be terrible business by the Blues. They are too smart to make that deal.

The idea of swapping Courtois for Morata is a much more interesting idea. Courtois is a more accomplished keeper than Morata is striker, but we know that forwards are much more valuable commodities on the transfer market than keepers.

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It wouldn’t shock me if Conte and company were interested in this sort of swap. The Blues could easily promote Asmir Begovic to fill Courtois’ spot in the starting XI. They could also elect to search for a new first choice keeper in the summer transfer window. Buying a world-class keeper is much cheaper than purchasing a top-notch striker.

Things might be different if Courtois truly seemed committed to Chelsea. Periodically, stories pop up about how much the talented Belgian wants to return to Spain. His family still live in Madrid and have shown zero signs of being interested in a move to England. Conventional wisdom believes that Courtois will end up back in Spain sooner, rather than later.

That’s why using him to acquire Morata will at least tempt Chelsea. They don’t want to lose their top keeper, but the club may view it as an inevitable occurrence in the long run. If that’s the case, they could do a lot worse than getting Alvaro Morata back in return for his departure.

Next: Chelsea and Real Madrid will fight for Man City star

Transfer swap deals rarely ever come off, but this one between Real Madrid and Chelsea has a chance. Swapping Morata for Courtois might make both clubs better in the long run.

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