If you want more of the “Eden Hazard to Real Madrid- will he or won’t he?” transfer soap opera, well today is your lucky day. Obviously, it’s a transfer saga that surpassed the level of tedium a very long time ago, but it’s also a narrative that we didn’t expect to go away forever either.
Shortly after making the same Chelsea to Real Madrid move himself, Hazard’s Belgian teammate Thibaut Courtois admitted that he would like to recruit Hazard to do the same. Courtois won’t have to do much of a hard sell, as Eden Hazard revisited the topic again this weekend, following Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Southampton.
Eden Hazard admitted that joining Real Madrid would fulfill a childhood dream, and it’s a move that he still wants to make happen someday. The 27-year-old also admits he harbors mixed feelings about wanting to stay or go in regards to Chelsea.
Most importantly, Hazard said that if he does leave, he wants it to be on good terms.
“Real Madrid is the best club in the world. I don’t want to lie, it is my dream since I was a kid,” the 2014-15 PFA Player of the Year said following the big win on the south coast.
“We will see. I don’t want to talk about this every day. I don’t have time, but we will talk about my future soon. In my head, sometimes I wake up in the morning and think I want to go. Sometimes I think I want to stay. It is a hard decision. It is my future. I am 27 and I will turn 28 in January.”
“It is also when you have a dream and you want to make it happen. It is like I have said a lot of times: if I leave I will be happy, I know if I stay I will be happy.”
Eden Hazard doesn’t want to leave the club in the same manner that Courtois did, a situation that included an ugly hold out from training camp. The forward also insists that he’s very happy at Stamford Bridge right now, and is open to a new contract extension. His current deal runs until June 30 2020.
“I don’t want that (drama we saw with Courtois). I want what’s good for me, but I want what’s good for the club because the club has given me everything,” Hazard continued.
“I don’t want to say: ‘Yes, I am signing a new contract,’ and then I don’t end up signing.” I could talk now (about a new deal). If they come to me, then I will talk. I don’t want to say that I am not talking with the club or the owner. I am talking a lot with them.”
“I am happy and I don’t need anything. It is not trophies. Of course, when you play, you want to win but I just want to enjoy things on the pitch, like I am at the moment.”
Hazard also had a lot of great things to say about the team’s current form. At the current international break they sit tied with Liverpool and Manchester City for the most points in the league (20).
“I think that this is the best,” he added.
“We had some great results in the past so I can’t say that the managers before weren’t good, but I think in terms of football and the way we are playing, yes, this is the best.”
“It is similar to how we played in France with Lille — a lot of pass and move, movement from the team. Then we also have good players in our team, so that’s why we are playing this great football.”
Of all the summers in which a move to Madrid was mentioned and seemed possible, this past window seemed the likeliest by far; especially so with Cristiano Ronaldo leaving Real for Juventus. However, Chelsea maintained that Hazard was not for sale, at any price and he stayed.
It’s possible that the only reason Hazard said what he said at the St. Mary’s over the weekend is to posture for his agent, in the aim of getting a better, richer deal with Chelsea.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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