Manchester United Transfer Rumors: Eden Hazard Worth a Big Investment

One of these days, Lille is going to sell Eden Hazard. They've been dancing around the possibility for too long not to sell their 21-year-old midfielder.

There has been no shortage of rumors regarding Hazard in the last couple months, but I'll keep this simple by filling you in on the latest from Mirror Football.

Apparently, Lille have told both Chelsea and Manchester United that they won't sell Hazard for anything less than £35 million this January.

This price is significant for a couple reasons.

On the one hand, it's a significant increase over the £25 million bid that the Daily Mail said Chelsea was considering a few days ago. If Chelsea wants Hazard that bad, they're going to have to pay up.

On the other hand, Lille's £35 million price is significantly less than the price they gave Arsenal back in November. Per the Daily Mail, Lille's valuation of Hazard at that point was £43 million.

So you might say that £35 million is something of a bargain.

But this is not to say that it's a bargain Sir Alex Ferguson will be willing to pay. It's no secret that the Red Devils have midfield problems, but that doesn't mean Ferguson has to pay a king's ransom to fix these problems.

Ferguson needs only to look up and see that his club is second in the Premier League table. He therefore doesn't have as much incentive to acquire Hazard as Chelsea, which is trying to hold off Arsenal for the fourth spot.

But it would be foolish to view Hazard as a quick fix, a player that Ferguson could plug in to fill an immediate need. Hazard is more than that. Investing in him would be making a long-term investment.

Hazard is already a very good player. His creativity with the ball makes him very tough to defend, and he can make plays both for himself and for others. If Ferguson were to add him, he would be giving his club a significant shot in the arm.

But the question is not what kind of player Hazard is. The question is what kind of player he could be. 

And that's where you have to get excited, as Hazard is a young player who still has room to improve. Down the road, he could be a star.

Now, all of this being said, it is admittedly quite difficult to imagine Ferguson dishing out £35 million to acquire Hazard. In fact, it's difficult to imagine him doing anything more than doing his due diligence.

Then again, maybe the time is right for Ferguson to do something unexpected.