Real Madrid are reportedly open to the idea of including James Rodriguez in a potential offer to try and prise Eden Hazard away from Chelsea.
It has been well documented that the Colombian international is struggling at the Bernabeu, as he remains a bit-part player while he sits down the pecking order in Zinedine Zidane’s plans.
In turn, the talented playmaker has been linked with an exit for several months with the summer transfer window now arguably his best chance to start a new challenge elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Hazard continues to be linked with a move to the Spanish capital despite playing an integral role in Chelsea’s pursuit of the Premier League title this season. Putting those two elements together, Marca believe that Rodriguez could now be included in a potential offer from Madrid for Hazard.
As noted by the Metro, the former Monaco and Porto star has been valued at £65m, albeit with that specific report suggesting that Liverpool are at the front of the queue to snap him up.
As a result, it’s questionable as to how much more Madrid would have to offer Chelsea to convince them to part with Hazard, with the Belgian international rediscovering some of his best form this season since Antonio Conte was appointed as his new coach.
It’s added in the report from Marca that Hazard has a contract until 2020 with the Blues, while his contract is worth €10m per season. Madrid would be confident of matching that, even though Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale are the only two players around the same wage level.
Whether or not Conte would be willing to give up Hazard at all is debatably, while he may well feel a little more confident about giving the green light to the move if Rodriguez arrives in return.
Nevertheless, it seems like an unlikely scenario for the time being, unless Hazard decides that he wishes to move on at the end of the campaign with another Premier League title to his name.