Eden Hazard was arguably the best player of this World Cup tournament, and it appears the Chelsea and Belgium star is now poised to move to the world’s best team. You can say that Hazard was robbed of the Golden Ball Award, which went to Croatia’s Luke Modric.
Well, it looks like Hazard will just have to settle for a massive rise in pay grade, and one that will make him club teammates with Modric. After Belgium beat England 2-0 yesterday in the World Cup third place game, Hazard made comments that hinted at his exit from Chelsea.
He’s been linked to Real Madrid for several years already, and the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus may just provide the perfect opening. Via Belgian outlet HLN, via Sky Sports:
“After six wonderful years at Chelsea it might be time to discover something different,” he said. “Certainly after this World Cup. I can decide if I want to stay or go, but Chelsea will make the final decision — if they want to let me go. You know my preferred destination.”
That preferred destination is obviously Madrid, and it’s anything but a secret. This is clearly a “come and get me” plea to Real Madrid, and it’s not the first time the 27-year-old has done so. Back on June 19, just as Belgium were beginning their World Cup campaign, Hazard put Stamford Bridge on notice, and in the same interview, he also gave a very strong signal to Real, encouraging the European champions to come and get him.
On top of all that, Hazard’s father has been publicly pining for his son to transfer to Los Blancos for months, if not years. Quite a few football experts within the English media see a deal sending the 2015 PFA Player of the Year to the Spanish capital as pretty much inevitable now.
There have been reports in the British tabloids claiming that Madrid are prepared to bid as much as £150 million to acquire him.
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.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud and YouTube. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to any and all of his.
Leave a Reply