Friday 31 March 2017 14:43, UK
Antonio Conte says Chelsea can cope with any Real Madrid attempt at unsettling Eden Hazard this summer, insisting the Belgian is happy at the club.
Sky sources this week revealed Real's interest in signing Hazard, who still has more than three years to run on the Chelsea contract he signed in 2015.
But Hazard is happy at Stamford Bridge, according to Conte, who appeared relaxed as he addressed the speculation at his Friday press conference and even suggested Real's interest was good news.
"The only thing that I can say to Eden is just to play," he said. "We are happy with him. He is happy with us. I don't see problems about him.
"This is a part of our game also, for others to try to put out these rumours to create a bit of difficulty in the mind of the players.
"I think we have great experience to face these situations and also my players. It is normal, it is logical in this part of the season to start rumours about our players and I am very happy because it means we are doing a great job."
Chelsea have a 10-point lead at the top of the Premier League with 10 games to play, the first of them at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Conte's mantra of "not looking too far ahead" got another airing on Friday, and the Italian's short-term outlook extends to John Terry's contract situation.
The club captain's deal is up in the summer, and Conte was asked about newspaper reports suggesting an extension is on offer.
He said: "I like to talk about John for this season. He's helping a lot. I repeat: he's doing a great job. John knows my thoughts about him and I think the most important thing is this."
On Chelsea's title chances he added: "I think we deserve to win, but there are 10 games to go. For sure our opponents don't want to accept that Chelsea is champions.
"Football is full of surprises. In my experience as a footballer, I won a lot, but I think I lost more. For this reason, I want to keep our feet on the ground. It's very important, this."
