Eden Hazard Contract Is Festive Priority for Chelsea and Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho must be a hard man to buy a Christmas present for. After all, the Chelsea boss is a man with the means to have most things in life.

When his nearest and dearest are considering gifts this year, perhaps Roman Abramovich can trump them all by delivering the one thing Mourinho craves most—a new contract for Eden Hazard.

The subject of Hazard's new deal has long been on the agenda. Mourinho has often spoken of it when pushed in press conferences, and in recent days, the noises coming from Stamford Bridge have seemed to suggest an announcement is imminent.

The Telegraph's Matt Law has suggested Hazard is close to agreeing a £200,000-per-week deal, while David Kent of the Daily Mail added it will extend his stay in west London by five years. Regardless of what might happen, Chelsea and their manager need Hazard to put pen to paper. And quick.

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Real Madrid are known admirers of Chelsea's diminutive Belgian, while Paris Saint-Germain have remained on the periphery, lurking in the shadows.

A move in the winter window from either club would seem unlikely for many reasons, not least Real's need to offload players before putting in a super bid. PSG have similar problems given their Financial Fair Play infractions.

The longer negotiations go on with Hazard, however, the more their confidence will grow.

Chelsea don't need rival clubs sniffing around, unsettling their players. Not when they're challenging for silverware on four fronts this season and not when one of those clubs is Real Madrid.

The European champions are masters of the pursuit and aren't one to shy away from playing the long game.

The transfers of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale are fine cases in point.

Madrid set their stalls out early with the pair. When Ronaldo started delivering on his promise at Manchester United, soon enough Madrid's name was never too far from the headlines.

When Bale became flavour of the month at Tottenham Hotspur and the latest must-have of the European game, it was a similar story.

Transfer windows came and went. The will-he-won't-he saga dragged on, but eventually Real got their man.

With everything Hazard is achieving at Chelsea, he's the next on their list. You'd expect he'd probably be at the top of many other clubs' lists, too, if they could finance it.

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Chelsea won't allow him to leave in January should an audacious bid be placed, although it could be the month they lose him.

It's a case of the forbidden fruit. Real is a club that thrives on chasing the thing they can't have. If we were speaking in cliches, players like Hazard would be their meat and drink.

They do not understand the language of "no."

It's an ego thing, one boardroom proving its might over the other. They're peacocking and the aim is to reassert their status.

And to be fair, it's not often Real lose out.

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Starting negotiations with Hazard this season was always going to be a tactic from Chelsea's top brass. He's their prized asset and entering the third year of his current five-year deal.

Right now, they hold the cards as time is on their side. If nothing is agreed come the new year, slowly that balance of power will swing in the player's favour.

As time ticks down and the weeks pass, Hazard's contract grows shorter and the interest from the outside grows. Suddenly those whispers get louder.

And with that interest comes the promise of ever more riches, giving the player and his agent increased bargaining power.

Real know the game like everyone else, yet they're the experts at executing the winning strategy. There's not another club that plays it better than them.

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Chelsea and Mourinho can ill-afford to have Hazard's head turned. It not only sends the wrong message about what the club is building, but it will severely weaken them as well.

Hazard is the counter that makes Mourinho's Chelsea revolve. The manager has been bold in building his team around him and by removing him altogether, Chelsea will be back to square one.

The monotony of transfer gossip is going to return very soon when the window re-opens.

It only adds to the post-Christmas blues in January. We check our bank balance and the festivities have hit us hard; we pick up the newspaper and the columns are dominated by gossip that in large part carries little substance.

For our sake and theirs, Chelsea must make sure Hazard's not part of it.

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes