What you do get when you have a very slow news day just 12 days before a transfer window opens? Ridiculous transfer narratives like the one dominating headlines today- Manchester United lining up a £90 million deal to secure Eden Hazard from Chelsea.
Supposedly, United Manager Jose Mourinho really wants to work with the superstar forward again, and honestly what football manager wouldn’t? However, there’s no confirmed interest in the player himself nor a stated desire by Chelsea to sell. Not to mention the fact that Mourinho and Hazard had a rocky relationship at Stamford Bridge.
Thus the report from the Sun must remain in the “far-fetched” category.
Given how it’s not a realistic rumor, assessing it on a detailed level isn’t really required, and it’s actually much more fun to look at ho various outlets are covering this narrative.
Killer lede and intro paragraph from The Guardian:
Let The Mill take you on a journey back in time. It’s August, 2015. David Cameron has yet to announce the Brexit referendum that will definitely be a good idea. Donald Trump’s hopes of becoming the next president of the United States are rated as likely as Leicester winning the Premier League title. And José Mourinho is the undisputed king of English football. Oh, what memories.
But then it all went wrong, didn’t it?
Make sure you follow that link up above to see where they go with the Eden Hazard “reports.”
NBC Sports points out how £90 million is an absolutely ridiculously low price for a player like this, in the current market.
“It is seriously tough to believe Chelsea will let Hazard, who has a current contract through the summer of 2020, leave for anywhere near that fee, especially as the 26-year-old will be entering his prime,” writes NBC.
Metro point out a couple more stumbling blocks that could keep this deal from coming to fruition:
“Chelsea’s preference is to keep Hazard and they’re willing to make him the best paid player in the club’s history. However, should the Belgian push to leave they would rather sell him abroad than to a Premier League rival.”
In summation, no, one should definitely not really be putting much stock or faith in the idea of Eden Hazard leaving Chelsea for Manchester United.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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