Real Madrid Reportedly Ready £150M Eden Hazard Bid After Cristiano Ronaldo Exit
July 13, 2018
Real Madrid's efforts to replace Cristiano Ronaldo are set to escalate following reports the club is ready to offer £150 million for Chelsea winger Eden Hazard.
Ronaldo was sold to Juventus in a £100 million move that became official on Tuesday, and the Daily Mail's Matt Barlow wrote that Real are ready with a nine-figure offer of their own to sign Hazard.
Hazard would become the third-most expensive player of all time if he were to complete a £150 million departure from Chelsea. The only other more lucrative deals would be those completed by Paris Saint-Germain for Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
However, interest in Hazard has emerged from the Camp Nou, per Belgian journalist Kristof Terreur:
Hazard recently impressed for Belgium at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and led his country on a run to the tournament's semi-finals, where they were knocked out following a 1-0 defeat to France.
Despite the defeat, Hazard illustrated his talent and was the best player on the pitch, at least according to WhoScored.com stats:
Ronaldo's move to Turin has created a vacuum in Real's attack that demands being filled by a star of similar magnitude, or as close to one can get to the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.
Los Blancos icon Michel Salgado said the Portuguese star is an irreplaceable asset and refused to be drawn on who out of Hazard or PSG star Neymar would make for the better replacement:
According to Barlow, Hazard has so far refused to put pen to paper on the £300,000-per-week deal Chelsea are said to have offered him, and the player wants to see new signings arrive before he commits.
But it's been a muddled summer for the club thus far. Chelsea confirmed they had parted ways with manager Antonio Conte on Friday, with former Napoli chief Maurizio Sarri expected to take over as his replacement, per the Guardian's Paolo Bandini.
The south-west London club is therefore making up for lost time in this summer's transfer market, and with only a month until the Premier League season begins, Hazard is unlikely to have been encouraged by the delays.
Hazard has two years left to run on his contract, giving the club some security in this summer's market, although the opportunity to jump ship for Real may be too strong for the Belgian if the offer is made official.